vv 


J  o/i  \  V/  o 

OF  THE  NEW  JERSEY  CONFERENCE. 


THE 


LIFE,  LABORS  AND  SERMONS 


OF 


REV.  CHARLES  PITMAN,  D.D., 


OF   THE 


I  b  BY 

C?  A.  MALMSBURY. 

// 

WITH   AN   INTRODUCTION 

BY  REV.  CHARLES  H.  WHITECAR,  D.D. 


PHILADELPHIA : 

METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  BOOK   ROOMS, 
1018  ARCH  STREET. 


COPYRIGHT,  1887. 
BY  C.  A.  MALMSBTJRY. 


TO 

THE  PREACHERS 

OF   THE 

PHILADELPHIA,  NEW  JERSEY,  NEWARK 

AND 

WILMINGTON  CONFERENCES, 
®f)t0  foolume 

IS    MOST    RESPECTFULLY   DEDICATED. 


PREFACE. 


To  RESCUE  the  names  and  memories  of  great  and  good  men,  from  that 
oblivion  which  the  surges  of  this  world's  activities,  and  the  sweeping 
marches  of  time,  seem,  as  if  by  destiny,  determined  to  cover  forever  in 
the  shadows  of  an  eternal  night,  is  the  work  of  men  in  each  generation 
of  a  passing  century.  And  thus  it  becomes  our  duty  to  hand  down  from 
one  generation  to  another  an  account  of  their  lives,  and  a  record  of  their 
acts  and  usefulness,  and  to  keep  in  a  chain  of  successive  and  unbroken 
links,  the  biographies  of  eminent  Christian  men  of  the  past,  and  the 
present. 

The  subject  of  our  biography  was  one  of  the  most  extraordinary  men 
of  his  age,  or  that  the  church  has  ever  produced.  His  life,  character, 
and  attainments,  which  we  trust,  cannot  fail  to  make  a  profound 
impression  upon  the  young  and  old  in  this  day  and  generation, 
marked  our  hero  as  a  champion  of  the  cross,  and  as  a  bold  and  power- 
ful defender  of  "  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints."  We  hope  his 
lofty  ambition,  and  noble,  self-sacrificing  life  of  toil,  will  not  only  serve 
the  cause  of  truth  and  righteousness,  in  elevating  its  standard  in  the 
minds  of  men,  but  that  his  example  may  stimulate  others  in  their  toils 
and  efforts  for  a  noble  and  useful  life-service  in  the  cause  of  Christ,  and 
lead  them  justly  to  appreciate  the  sacrifices  he  made,  and  diligently 
strive  to  imitate  his  excellencies  and  self-denying  example  of  godliness, 
and  religious  zeal. 

We  have  been  anxiously  waiting  for  years,  for  some  one  to  write  this 
biography,  and  give  us  an  account  of  this  great  and  good  man ;  and 
at  last,  becoming  "weary  of  waiting,"  and  in  this  period  of  partial 
cessation  of  our  ministerial  life,  as  a  temporary  relief  from  the  pressure 
of  its  more  arduous  duties,  and  as  a  recuperative  of  exhausted  nervous 
force  and  energy,  and  amid  a  pressure  of  correspondence  for  several 
of  our  religious  journals,  and  other  literary  matter,  we  have  ventured 
to  take  pen  in  hand  and  do  what  we  could  from  the  material  left  by 
Mr.  Pitman  to  write  his  biography. 

Biography  is  one  of  the  greatest  needs  of  the  Church.  "  Biography  is 

v 


VI  PREFACE. 

the  history  of  man."  "  If  impartial,  it  shows  us  ourselves.  The  biogra- 
phy of  Christian  men,  not  only  illustrates,  or  sets  forth,  the  character- 
istics of  human  nature,  but  also  exhibits  the  grace  of  God,  and  shows 
the  energy  with  which  it  works  in  transforming  fallen  man  into  the  im- 
age of  God."  The  history  of  faithful  ministers  of  Christ  unfolds  also  the 
progress  of  the  Redeemer's  kingdom  among  men,  and  thus  in  the  biog- 
raphy of  one  man  is  included  many. 

The  Church  wants  biography.  Our  people  need  it.  It  is  essential  to 
spiritual  life.  Our  people  have  need  to  know  how  our  fathers  have  lived 
and  how  they  died.  There  is  a  great  dearth  in  our  modern  litera- 
ture respecting  biography.  Old  Methodist  literature  abounded  with  it, 
and  the  devout  and  earnest  perusal  of  it  and  its  application  to  heart 
and  life  of  professed  Christians  has  wafted  on  the  wings  of  faith  many  a 
soul  to  glory.  It  will  do  the  same  under  God  now  that  it  has  done  in 
the  past. 

How  far  our  attempt  to  write  this  biographical  sketch  may  be  success- 
ful we  must  leave  our  readers  to  determine.  To  extensive  literary  at- 
tainments or  to  elaborate  and  finished  production  we  make  no  claim. 
Apologies  we  have  none  to  make,  but  for  the  aim  or  purpose  we  have 
disclosed  in  this  work,  we  think  we  are  entitled  to  the  favorable  consid- 
eration of  the  reading  public.  The  material  has  been  gathered  and 
added  to  the  chapters  by  the  author  at  odd  times,  and  as  occasion  offered, 
"  in  season  and  out  of  season,"  and  under  the  pressure  of  various  min- 
isterial engagements,  which  none  can  understand  but  those  who  follow 
a  nomadic  or  itinerant  life. 

As  to  our  statements,  we  have  both  good  and  reliable  authority  for 
them ;  they  have  been  gathered  from  those  who  were  contemporary  and 
conversant  with  the  hero  of  our  history,  and  were,  in  many  instances, 
connected  with  him  in  the  great  evangelism  of  his  time,  and  we  now 
send  forth  this  volume  with  an  earnest  prayer  that  it  may  do  good,  and 
inspire  greater  love  to  Christ  in  the  souls  of  its  readers,  and  be  the 
means  of  leading  men  and  women  to  Christ;  and  especially  do  we  pray 
that  it  may  awaken  and  move  by  impulses  and  convictions,  im- 
pressions and  activities,  the  Christian  ministry  of  this  age  and  genera- 
tion to  a  still  greater  earnestness  and  devout  effort  in  securing  a  gracious 
ingathering  of  souls,  and  to  do  this  let  them  imitate  our  grand,  glorious 
gospel  hero,  and  preach  the  doctrines  of  religion. 

THE  AUTHOR. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

MR.  PITMAN'S  PARENTAGE,  BIRTH-PLACE  AND  EARLY  LIFE. 

PAGE 

Loss  of  Father — Incident — Conversion — Occupation  as  a  School  Teacher — Letter  from 
his  cousin,  Kev.  Joseph  Bennett— Commences  to  Exercise  his  Gifts  in  Public- 
Revival  Meeting  at  Three  Tuns  (now  called  Hedding)— A  Junior  Preacher  on 
Trenton  Circuit— Joins  the  Philadelphia  Conference— First  Circuit— Colleague  .  .  1-15 

CHAPTER  II. 

MR.  PITMAN'S  SUBSEQUENT  FIELDS  OF  LABOR. 

Bergen  Circuit— New  Brunswick  Station— Sent  to  Supply  Rev.  J.  Moore's  Place— Or- 
dination and  Ordination  Parchments — Letter  containing  an  account  of  work  of 
God  in  New  Brunswick— Mr.  Pitman  an  active  and  successful  Book  Agent — 
"Bridgetown"  Station,  Southern  New  Jersey — Great  Revival— Converts  -  Letter 
containing  an  account  of  the  work  of  God  in  "  Bridgetown,"  N.  J. — Mr.  Pitman, 
Senior  Preacher  on  the  City  Circuit,  Philadelphia,  1825 — Rev.  William  Barnes 
and  Rev.  Joseph  Holdich,  Colleagues— What  it  embraced— Rev.  Geo.  G.  Cookman's 
arrival  in  Philadelphia— Joins  St.  George's  Church — Incident — Mr.  Pitman  con- 
tinues but  one  year  on  the  Circuit— Appointed  Presiding  Elder  of  West  Jersey 
District,  Philadelphia  Conference,  1826 1&-34 

CHAPTER  III. 

MR.    PITMAN   AS   PRESIDING   ELDER  OF  THE   WEST  JERSEY   DISTRICT. 

What  it  embraced  at  that  time— Mode  of  Travel — Quarterly  Meetings— Book  Sales — 
"  Old  Burlington  "  Circuit— Plan  of  Appointments— Burlington— Camden— Officiary 
of  the  District— Trenton  Station— Officiary -Freehold  Circuit— "  Screaming  Hill" 
— Ezekiel  Cooper— Incident— Officiary  of  Freehold  Circuit— New  Mills  Circuit- 
Incident— Officiary  of  New  Mills  Circuit— Mr.  Pitman  felt  at  home  at  New  Mills, 
and  was  warmly  welcomed  by  that  people— Sketch  of  Methodism  in  Burlington, 
New  Mills  and  Trenton 35-17 

vii 


Vlll  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

PAGE 

WEST  JEESEY   DISTRICT  CONTINUED. 

Old  Gloucester  Circuit— Officiary-  Benjamin  B.  Doughty  (Sketch  of)— Pleasant  Mills 
— Mother  Richards—  Quarterly  Meetings  at  Pleasant  Mills,  Cumberland  and  Cape 
May  Circuits — Pitman's  powerful  Sermons  against  Formalism — Thrilling  Incident 
— A  wealthy  man  converted,  builds  a  Church,  donates  it  to  the  M.  E.  Church 
— Incident  related  by  Dr.  Bartine — "  Sheep  Sermon  " — Officiary  of  both  Circuits 
— Changes  that  hare  taken  place 48-60 

CHAPTER  V. 

WEST  JERSEY   DISTRICT   CONTINUED. 

"Bridgetown"  Station — Officiary— Salem  Station — Officiary— Salem  Circuit— Officiary — 
Quarterly  Meetings — Preaching — Salary  of  the  Presiding  Elder  —  Moving  and 
Traveling  Expenses — Books  for  the  Societies,  Character  of — Preachers  who  pur- 
chased Books  and  who  labored  with  Mr.  Pitman  on  his  District — State  and  con- 
dition of  Methodist  interest  when  Mr.  Pitman  entered  upon  the  District  as  Pre- 
siding Elder  and  at  the  present  time — Appointments  then  and  now 61-79 

CHAPTER  VI. 

MR.  PITMAN   APPOINTED   PRESIDING   ELDER  OF   THE   EAST   JERSEY  DISTRICT. 

What  it  embraced— Appointments— New  Brunswick  Station— Officiary — Freehold  Circuit 
— Additions  made  to  the  Officiary — Trenton  Circuit — Officiary — Crosswicks  Circuit — 
Officiary— Essex  Circuit— Officiary — Morristown— Officiary— Bloomfield— Officiary- 
Bell  ville — Officiary  — Newark— Officiary  — "  Elizabeths  >wn  "—Officiary  — Bah  way- 
Officiary — Staten  Island  Circuit— Officiary — New  Providence — Officiary— Somerset 
Mission — Bergen  Neck  Mission— Supplied  by  Local  Preachers — Mr.  Pitman  elec- 
ted a  Delegate  to  the  General  Conference,  1832— Active  work— Exhorters  on  Mr. 
Pitman's  District— Useful  adjuncts— Character  and  Office  almost  obsolete  now — 
Preachers — Appointments— Camp-meeting  near  Newton,  Sussex  Co.,  N.  J. — Mr. 
Pitman  preached — Intense  interest  awakened — Camp-meeting  near  New  Bruns- 
wick—Wonderful  results— Methodism  in  the  Ascendency— Charles  Pitman,  under 
God,  the  grand  instrument  80-95 

CHAPTER  VII. 

MR.    PITMAN   STATIONED   IN   PHILADELPHIA,   AT   UNION   CHURCH. 

Building  of  the  Church— Great  popularity — Keyser's  Church— Crowded  Congregations 
at  Keyser's — Dedication  of  Union— Congregation  crowd  Union  as  they  did  Key- 
eer's— Personnel  of  Mr.  Pitman — Manner  of  address— Effect  produced  in  reading 


CONTENTS.  IX 

PAGE 

hymna— Preaching—  Unremitted  attention  to  his  Pastoral  work — Success— Closing 
of  his  term  of  Ministerial  Service  at  Union  Church — Old  Union,  a  grand  moral 
battle-field — Should  forever  be  monumental  to  Methodism — Appointed  Agent,  with 
Rev.  E.  S.  Janes,  for  Dickinson  College— Success — Camp-meeting  Incident  in  Dela- 
ware—Mr. Pitman  preached— A  portentous  thunder-storm  cloud,  held  back  dur- 
ing the  service — Wonderful  out-pouring  of  the  Spirit  of  God — Five  hundred  con- 
verted on  that  afternoon  and  evening 96-107 

CHAPTEE  VJII. 

ME.  PITMAN   RELINQUISHES  THE   AGENCY  OF   DICKINSON  COLLEGE  AND 
RETURNS   TO   THE   PASTORATE. 

Stationed  at  St.  George's,  Philadelphia  —  Repair  and  remodeling  of  the  Church  — 
William  P.  Corbit — Means  that  led  to  his  conversion — Great  revival  of  religion 
at  St.  George's — Hundreds  converted — Mrs.  Craft's  conversion — Eminent  revival 
preachers  assist— Rev.  John  Street,  Revs.  C.  A.  Lippincott,  Walters,  McCaskey, 
Tasker  and  others — Second  year  at  St.  George's — Conference  years,  1836  and  1837 
— Notable  years  in  the  History  of  Methodism  in  Philadelphia  and  New  Jersey 
— Closing  of  the  term  of  service— Mr.  Pitman  appointed  to  Eighth  St.  Church, 
a  new  organization  in  consequence  of  the  great  ingathering  at  St.  George's — 
Its  history— Success— Remains  but  one  year— Transferred  the  next  year  to  the 
New  Jersey  Conference 108-123 

CHAPTER  IX. 

MR.  PITMAN  A  MEMBER  OF  THE  NEW  JERSEY  CONFERENCE. 
Stationed  at  Green  Street  M.  E.  Church,  Trenton— His  labors— Crowded  Congrega- 
tions— Incident,  by  which  a  Church  was  subsequently  organized — Rev.  Wm.  P. 
Corblt— Mr.  Pitman  earnest  and  indefatigable  in  his  work— Success  in  revival 
effort— Numerous  calls  for  Dedication  Services  and  the  laying  of  Corner-stones 
for  Churches— Close  of  Ministerial  term— Appointed  Presiding  Elder  of  Trenton 
District— Continues  in  office  nearly  two  months— Transferred  to  the  New  York 
Conference — Elected  to  fill  a  vacancy  made  by  the  resignation  of  Dr.  Bangs  in 
the  Missionary  Secretaryship  of  the  M.  E.  Church— Duties— Travels— Addresses — 
Sermons— Editorship  of  the  "Missionary  Advocate" — Honored  with  the  Title  of 
D.D.— Sketches  of  Missionary  work 124-132 

CHAPTER  X. 

FURTHER   ACCOUNT  OF  DR.    PITMAN'S   MISSIONARY   LABOR. 

Letter  concerning  a  missionary  effort  in  Rahway,  N.  J.—  Travels— Addresses— Collec- 
tions— Trip  to  Connecticut — Appeal  to  the  Conferences  and  Churches  to  aid  in 
extinguishing  the  debt  of  the  Missionary  Society— Travels  up  the  Hudson— Visits 


X  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Peekskill,  Shrub-oaks,  Camden  (N.  J.),  Philadelphia  and  St.  Paul's— Missionary 
Addresses— Goes  Westward  with  Bishop  Waugh — Addresses  the  Western  Confer- 
ences in  the  interest  of  the  Missionary  Society— Returns  after  an  extensive  Tour 
— Addresses— A  Missionary  letter  to  the  Liberia  Conference— Resume  of  the  Of- 
ficial work  of  the  Secretary— Missionary  Hymn  composed  by  Dr.  Pitman  .  .  .  133-150 

CHAPTER  XL 

DR.  PITMAN   AS  A   CHURCH   DEDICATOE.      SOME  ACCOUNT  OF  THESE   DEDICATIONS. 

West  Bloomfield,  Trenton  (N.  J.),  Milford  (Del.),  Connecticut,  Cold  Spring  (L.  I.), 
Broadway  (N.  J.),  Bordentown  (N.  J.),  Porchtown  (N.  J.),  and  others— Sermons- 
Great  success  that  followed— Much  of  this  kind  of  work  performed  during  the 
last  twelve  or  fifteen  years  of  his  active  life— An  account  of  the  great  West 
Port  Camp-meeting 151-167 

CHAPTER  XII. 

DR.   PITMAN   AS  A   PREACHER. 

Diffident  at  first — Manner  Solemn — Incident  at  New  York  Conference — Incident  at 
a  Camp-meeting— Pitman's  tears  more  powerful  than  his  exhortation— Sermon  on 
Spiritual  Pathology — Dr.  Pitman  preached  the  doctrines  of  Religion — "  Billy  Hib- 
bard"  incident  at  Conference— Dr.  Pitman  preached  the  doctrine  of  Christian 
Perfection  or  Entire  Sanctification — Extracts  from  Sermons— Dr.  Pitman  "set  for 
the  defence  of  the  Gospel  " — Great  moral  achievement— Culmination  of  history  .  .  168-185 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

DR.   PITMAN,    AS   A   POET,    POSSESSED   A   FINE   POETICAL   TALENT. 

Wrote  considerable  Poetry  between  the  years  1840  and  1848— Specimens :  A  Mission- 
ary Hymn,  Israel  in  Bondage,  The  Preservation  of  Moses,  The  Education  of  Moses, 
The  Choice  of  Moses— Character  of  Dr.  Pitman's  Poetry  ..." 186-199 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

DR.    PITMAN   AS   A   PULPIT   ORATOR. 

Oratory,  and  in  what  does  it  consist? — Oratory  defined — Eloquence  defined — Sermons 
— Reading  Hymns — Scriptural  Lessons — Manner  of  reading — Baptismal,  Sacramental 
and  Burial  Services  from  the  Ritual — Dedications — Missionary  Addresses — Extracts 
— Dr.  Pitman's  description  of  Dr.  Newton 200-212 


CONTENTS.  XI 

CHAPTER  XV. 

DR.    PITMAN   AND    HIS   CONTEMPORAEIE8. 

PAGE 

Rev.  Edward  Page— Rev.  George  Bangbart — Rev.  John  Potts — Rev.  Ezekiel  Cooper 
— Rev.  Solomon  Sharp — Rev.  Manning  Force — Rev.  Richard  W.  Petherbridge— 
Rev.  Edmund  S.  Janes,  D.D.— Rev.  Joseph  Holdich,  D.D. — Rev.  George  G.  Cook- 
man — Rev.  Joseph  G.  Chattle — Rev.  Daniel  Parrish — Rev.  Waters  Burroughs  — 
Rev.  Thomas  McCarroll — Rev.  Isaac  Winner,  D.D. — Rev.  Sedgwick  Rusling — Rev. 
Thomas  G.  Steward — Rev.  Caleb  A.  Lippincott — Rev.  Joseph  Lybrand— Rev.  Thomas 
Sovereign— Rev.  Jefferson  Lewis,  D.D.— Rev.  Charles  H.  Whitecar,  D.D 213-239 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

EXPIRATION   OF   THE   TERM   0-F  DR.    PITMAN'S   MISSIONARY   SECRETARYSHIP. 
HEALTH   GIVING   WAY   NECESSITATES   HIS   RETIREMENT. 

Removes  from  New  York  to  his  former  home  in  Trenton,  N.  J. — Letter  to  the  Con- 
ference asking  for  a  superannuated  relation — How  the  last  four  years  of  his  life 
were  passed— Paralysis— Sickness— Death— Funeral— Sermon  by  Bishop  Janes — In- 
terment in  Mercer  Cemetery — Final  Resting-place — An  account  of  the  Funeral 
Services,  as  published  in  the  "Daily  True  American,"  Trenton,  N.  J.— Sermon 
by  Rev  W.  P.  Corbit  on  the  Death  of  Dr.  Pitman— A  Tribute  to  Dr.  Pitman's 
Memory,  by  Rev.  E.  C.  Jones,  entitled  "  The  Unbroken  Rest  "—The  surviving 
members  of  the  Pitman  family 240-258 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

REMINISCENCES  OF   REV.    CHARLES  PITMAN,    D.D. 

Rev.  D.  W.  Bartine,  D.D. — Rev.  J.  L.  Gilder,  D.D. — Memoir,  New  Jersey  Conference 
Minutes,  1854— Rev.  James  Ayars— Rev.  John  Kennaday,  D.D.— Rev.  G.  D.  Car- 
row,  D.D.— Rev.  R.  W.  Allen,  D.D.— Rev.  William  Roberts,  D.D.— Rev.  Charles 
H.  Wbitecar,  D.D. —Rev.  Hebron  Vincent 259-288 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

SKETCHES  OF  SERMONS. 

Dedication  Sermons:  Psalm  48:  12-14,  2d  Chron.  6:  40,  41,  Iga.  60:  7,  Act*  14:  7— 
Ministerial  Commission  :  Col.  1 :  28,  29,  Psalm  126 :  6,  Isa.  61 :  2— Missionary  Ser- 
mons :  Matt.  13  :  38,  Acts  16 :  9— Evangelical  Christianity :  Isa.  44 :  3-5,  Rom.  4:16, 
Bom.  12:  1,  Eph.  2:  8,  9,  Rom.  6:  1— Formal  Professions:  2  Tim.  3:  6— Sanctifl- 
cation  :  John  17  :  19— Spiritual  Pathology  :  1  Cor.  11 :  30 289-352 


INTRODUCTION. 


MEMORY,  tradition  and  history  are  component  factors  in  giving  to 
posterity  the  knowledge  of  pre-events  and  distinguished  personalities 
related  thereto ;  unitedly  revealing  the  great  past  to  the  present,  and 
showing  its  potent  influence  in  laying  the  firm  foundations  upon 
which  is  reared  the  grand  superstructure  of  civil  and  religious 
progress. 

The  greatest  of  these  factors  is  history.  Memory  is  lost  in  the 
waning  and  ending  life,  while  tradition  fails  in  its  protracted  attenuation 
and  uncertainties,  leaving  to  exact  and  impartial  history  the  em- 
bodiment and  conservation  of  events,  incidents  and  persons,  otherwise 
destined  to  oblivion,  and  thus  lost  to  the  coming  generations. 

Religious  history,  like  sacred  poetry,  is  an  educator  of  the  moral 
forces,  and  thereby  constitutes  a  potent  adjunct  of  the  pulpit,  and 
the  religious  press,  as  a  reformatory  and  evangelical  power,  while 
contributing  to  the  instruction  and  entertainment  of  intelligent 
inquiry.  Each  age  is  to  perpetuate  itself,  so  that  posterity  may  have 
the  benefit  of  its  experiences,  accomplishments  and  instructions  in 
discharging  its  obligation  to  the  State,  to  society  and  to  the  church, 
and  thus  to  be  the  better  qualified  to  build  wisely  and  safely  upon 
the  old  foundations.  As  what  was  purest  was  nearest  the  Apostolic 
Age  in  Christianity,  as  what  was  intensely  patriotic  and  American 
was  in  the  men  and  measures  of  our  Continental  fathers,  so,  also, 

we  are  to  look  to  our  Methodistic  original,  as  the  truest  exhibit  of 

xiii 


XIV  INTRODUCTION. 

what  it  was ;  as  providence  instituted  and  outlined  it  as  the  evangel- 
ism for  the  churches,  and  the  masses  in  the  oncoming  years. 

It  is  not  enough  that  we  have  a  varied,  full  and  entertaining  denom- 
inational history,  covering  the  century  of  our  church  organization  in 
this  country,  but  we  need  to  have  the  special  exhibit  of  distinguished 
persons,  with  their  intense  and  heroic  accomplishments  in  our  several 
localities,  as  a  denomination,  so  that  the  inspiration  of  their  virtues, 
and  their  work  may  be  a  living  force  to  their  successors  for  all  time. 

Our  church  has  had  a  host  of  holy,  apostolic  men,  who  have  deserved  a 

/ 
historic  monument  now  too  late  to  build,  and  well  nigh  failed,  in  the 

erection  of  this,  in  the  delay  of  years  to  the  life,  virtues  and  work  of  Rev. 
Charles  Pitman,  D.D.,  and,  but  for  the  affectionate  and  appreciative  de- 
votion of  its  author,  might  so  have  done. 

After  years  of  diligent  preparation  in  collating  original  notes,  memo- 
randa and  manuscripts,  of  which  he  came  in  possession,  together  with  a 
far-reaching  correspondence  and  local  inquiry,  with  an  aggregation  of 
reliable  traditional  facts,  and  a  careful  and  extended  consultation  of 
written  and  published  details,  thus  providing  him  with  incidents,  ac- 
complishments and  data,  the  author  of  this  history  of  the  life,  times  and 
compeers  of  Rev.  Charles  Pitman,  D.D.,  has  produced  a  volume  which 
supplies  a  desideratum  in  modern  ministerial  biography. 

This  illustrious  personality,  with  the  associates  of  his  times,  both 
clerical  and  lay,  well  deserve  the  distinction  here  given  to  them  in  their 
Christian  devotion  and  Methodistic  life  service,  contributing,  as  they 
did,  to  our  progressive  greatness,  as  a  branch  of  the  general  Church. 

Society  is  in  diversity.  Some  are  in  the  vales,  some  are  on 
the  levels,  some  stand  out  as  the  beautiful  hills,  while  others 
loom  up  in  the  strength  and  grandeur  of  the  mountains.  This 
last  class  has  its  representatives  in  founding  empires  and  republics. 
In  learning  and  discovery,  in  the  State  and  in  the  Church,  such  was 


INTRODUCTION.  XV 

the  subject  of  this  historic  portraiture.  As  the  foundation  of  true  great- 
ness is  in  the  nature,  such  was  his ;  and  as  the  superstructure  raised 
thereon  is  by  personal  devotion  and  culture,  so  of  his ;  and  as  greatness 
has  its  own  inspiration,  which,  if  obeyed,  and  its  mission,  which,  if 
followed,  she  gives  to  it  a  distinction  worthy  of  herself  in  individual 
illustration,  exalting,  as  in  the  case  of  Dr.  Pitman,  to  eminence 
and  honor. 

Of  the  class  of  the  great,  the  good  and  the  useful,  aa  will  appear  in 
the  reading  of  this  carefully-prepared  and  interesting  volume,  was  the 
universally  beloved  Charles  Pitman,  D.D.,  seen,  as  he  will  be,  in  his 
colossal  grandeur,  as  he  inspired  confidence  in  gospel  work  by  his  native 
power  and  spiritual  force. 

His  leadership  was  heroic  and  assuring,  and  braced  the  less  favored 
in  endowments  for  conflict  and  victory.  He  moved  upon  the  masses  and 
agitated  them,  as  is  the  ocean  by  strong  winds ;  as  his  uplift  of  unctious 
influence  was  like  the  roll  of  the  resistless  waves,  bearing  down  opposers 
and  moving  seekers  and  saints  heavenward. 

To  properly  appreciate  the  man,  his  history  must  be  read,  as  his 
personal  ministry  is  now  beyond  recall.  As  an  interesting  feature  of 
this  biography,  the  able  and  enthusiastic  author  has  brought  to  view 
a  large  number  of  ministers  and  laymen  who  were  his  contemporaries, 
holding  pastoral  and  official  positions  within  the  time  of  his  work  in  the 
West  and  East  Jersey,  and  in  Philadelphia,  as  also  of  ministers  with 
whom  he  held  conference  relations. 

His  poetic  effusions,  sketches  and  sermons  will  be  found  to  be  a 
compensating  feature  of  the  history. 

The  time,  research  and  ability  devoted  to  this  production  not  only 
reflects  honor  upon  the  author,  but  more — has  redeemed  from  oblivion 
an  illustrious  son  of  Methodism,  and  given  to  our  church  and  the  Chris- 
tian public  a  work  reliable,  useful  and  entertaining,  and  abounding  with 


XVI  INTRODUCTION. 

incident  and  Methodistic  history,  which  will  open  facts  connected  with 
our  church  to  unborn  generations. 

This  volume  will  commend  itself  in  its  outline  of  ministerial,  and 
lay  agency  during  the  primitive  and  heroic  years  of  our  Methodism. 
A  few  of  the  number  still  remain  who  participated  in  the  polemic 
conflicts — public  and  social,  and  were  active  in  bearing  onward  the 
standard  of  Christian  conquest,  under  Dr.  Pitman's  leadership.  These 
we  are  quite  sure  will  hail  this  accomplishment  with  great  satisfac- 
tion, as  will  many  more  in  whose  minds  the  traditions  of  the  past 
years  have  left  their  inquisitive  impressions.  To  overlook  the  field 
of  many  battles,  and  of  glorious  triumphs  in  Gospel  work,  on  the 
foreground  of  the  century  now  passing,  will  surely  be  a  delight  and 
joy  to  all  the  descendants,  of  their  illustrious  predecessors ;  now,  of  the 
cities,  villages,  plains,  valleys,  and  mountain  slopes,  where  "  Charles 
Pitman,"  his  compeers  and  lay  helpers  called  the  wandering  sheep 
back  to  the  fold  of  "the  Chief  Shepherd;"  and  the  formalist,  to  the 
rich  inheritance  of  a  joyous  spiritual  life.  But  few  biographies  of 
the  men  of  the  formative  years  of  Methodism  in  New  Jersey  have 
been  written,  and  this  one  will  take  an  honored  place  beside  that 
of  the  ardent  "Abbott,"  the  placid  "Ware"  and  the  enthusiastic 
"Stewart,"  whose  memorials  are  set  fast  as  the  mountains,  and  are 
cherished,  and  transmitted  by  careful  hands.  I  am  pleased  to  add, 
that  the  publication  of  this  volume  has  the  approbation,  and  has  had 
the  concurrent  aid  of  one  of  the  oldest  descendants  of  this  distin- 
guished subject. 

CHAS.  H.  WHITECAR. 

CAMDEN,  N.  J. 


THE 

LIFE,  LABORS  AND-  SERMONS 


OF 


REV.  CHARLES  PITMAN,  D.D. 


CHAPTER   I. 
MR.  PITMAN'S  PARENTAGE,  BIRTH-PLACE  AND  EARLY  LIFE. 

/CHARLES  PITMAN,  son  of  Daniel  and  Hannah  Pitman, 
v  was  born  near  Cookstown,  Burlington  County,  New  Jersey, 
on  the  9th  day  of  January,  1796.  Of  the  parents  of  Mr.  Pit- 
man, we  have  but  little  or  no  history,  except  that  they  were 
godly  and  pious  persons,  and  were  members  of  the  Methodist 
Society  in  the  place  where  they  lived,  and  that  the  father  was  a 
class-leader  for  some  time  in  that  Society,  and  the  mother  a 
gifted,  devoted  and  earnest  Christian  woman,  and  not  infre- 
quently did  she  pray  and  speak  in  the  meetings  of  their  church, 
to  great  edification  and  profit. 

Daniel  Pitman  died  when  Charles  was  only  six  years  of 
age,  and  he  was  left  to  the  care  of  a  pious  and  affectionate 
mother,  who  endeavored  to  train  him  up  for  God,  and  useful- 
ness in  the  church,  and  whose  influence  had  much  to  do  with 
moulding  the  future  of  that  heart  and  life,  which  was  to  be 
productive  of  such  great  good  to  the  church  in  after  years. 

The  event  of  his  father's  death,  and  of  his  orphanage  is 
1 


LIFE   OF   EEV.    CHARLES   PITMAN,   D.D. 

described  in  some  verses  written  by  himself  upon  a  birth-day 
anniversary,  in  which  he  says : 

"  At  six  years  old  an  orphan  boy ; 
Left  to  a  mother's  only  care, 
Her  constant  sweet  and  loved  employ, 
To  train  his  infant  heart  to  prayer. 

"  'Twas  mine  a  mother's  heart  to  share, 
A  mother's  heart, — affection's  home; 
'Twas  mine  to  hear  the  ardent  prayer, 
And  witness  the  unutter*d  groan. 

"'God  bless  my  boy!'    she  meekly  cried, 
And  wiped  the  anxious  tear  away ; 
'Shepherd  Divine,'  his  footsteps  guide, 
In  paths  of  peace  to  endless  day." 

He  would  sometimes  speak  of  his  father,  Daniel  Pitman,  who 
for  some  time  previous  to  his  death,  was  confined  to  his  bed 
from  the  effects  of  a  fall.  Little  Charles  used  to  take  the 
bread  and  butter  to  him  when  he  was  hungry,  and  Mr.  Pitman 
would  cut  a  slice  of  bread  and  spread  it  with  butter  for  his  boy, 
as  it  was  a  great  delight  for  the  father  to  see  him  eat  so  vigor- 
ously and  with  so  much  relish.  The  death  of  the  father  left 
Charles  with  a  delicate  mother  to  struggle  against  the  world, 
and  so  soon  as  able,  he  had  to  bear  his  part  in  obtaining  the 
means  of  support.  For  a  time,  while  in  boyhood  life,  he  worked 
on  the  farm  of  Daniel  Smith,  an  old  Quaker  gentleman,  whose 
only  fault  with  the  lad  seems  to  have  been  that  he  loved  his 
books,  and  occupied  too  much  of  his  time  in  reading, 

In  after  years,  when  Charles  Pitman  became  a  great  and  powerful 
preacher,  this  old  Quaker  gentleman  used  to  wonder  greatly  how 
Mr.  Pitman  could  preach  so  powerfully  and  with  such  wonderful 
effect,  and  on  an  occasion  when  he  expressed  his  surprise  in  this  man- 
ner, one  of  Mr.  Smith's  sons  replied  thus  :  "  Why,  father,  you  know 
Pitman  was  always  reading  the  Bible,  and  he  learned  to  preach 
from  it,  and  his  knowledge  of  it  helps  him  to  preach  it  to  others." 


AMUSING    INCIDENT.  3 

The  attachment  of  young  Pitman  to  his  mother  was  very 
great,  and  led  to  an  amusing  incident.  When  a  small  boy  a 
gentleman  called  on  his  mother,  desiring  to  pay  his  addresses 
and  secure  the  widow's  hand  in  marriage.  Charles  suspected 
him,  and  to  thwart  his  purpose,  gave  him  on  this  occasion  a 
sample  of  an  obstreperous,  unruly  boy,  crying,  holding  fast  to 
his  mother's  dress,  and  making  himself  as  disagreeable  as  pos- 
sible, so  much  so,  that  the  coveted  opportunity  for  the  two 
elderly  people  to  exchange  considerations  and  judgments  in  so 
weighty  a  matter,  was  wholly  lost  on  this  occasion.  The 
gentleman  visited  the  widow  several  times  afterwards,  but 
thinking  probably  that  it  was  "  courtship  under  difficulties," 
and  the  care  of  so  intractable  a  child,  would  detract  greatly 
from  matrimonial  felicity,  ceased  his  addresses,  and  gave  rest 
to  the  young  boy's  mind. 

Of  the  period  of  young  Pitman's  life  from  childhood  to 
the  time  when  he  entered  upon  his  ministerial  career  we  have 
but  little  knowledge,  and  consequently  cannot  give  a  minute 
and  connected  history.  Suffice  it  to  say,  his  mother,  as  has  been 
often  heard  from  many  sources,  was  a  deeply  pious  and  devoted 
woman,  and  took  great  interest  in  the  cause  of  religion,  and  the 
success  of  the  church.  From  this  fact  we  may  infer  that  she 
trained  her  son  up  in  the  fear  and  admonition  of  the  Lord, 
and  that  he  was  converted  to  God  in  early  life  was  a  fact 
which  he  himself  often  referred  to  during  his  ministerial  life 
and  career.  When  in  his  sixteenth  year,  he  told  a  valued 
and  life-long  friend  of  his  he  was  graciously  and  gloriously 
converted,  and  from  his  earliest  recollections  "  he  had  the  fear 
of  God  before  his  eyes,"  so  that  from  these  facts,  we  may  reason- 
ably suppose  that  almost  the  entire  period  of  his  natural  life  was 
given  to  the  service  of  God,  and  like  young  Timothy,  he  was  a 
child  of  faith  and  hope,  and  knew  the  Scriptures  in  their  experi- 
mental power  upon  the  human  heart  Thus  were  lessons  of  truth 
and  righteousness  early  instilled  into  the  mind  of  young  Pitman. 


LIFE   OF   REV.    CHARLES   PITMAN,    D.D. 

After  the  lad  had  been  by  his  loved  mother's  teachings  im- 
pressed with  an  abhorrence  of  gilded  vice,  he  was  tempted  one 
day  very  strongly,  by  the  enemy  of  all  good,  and  merely  for  the 
sake  of  the  gratification  of  his  sight,  to  go  to  the  theatre ;  and 
an  opportunity  presented  itself  through  his  visiting  Philadel- 
phia where  he  met  some  acquaintances  who  proposed  that  they 
that  night  should  go  to  the  theatre.  He  yielded  to  their  per- 
suasions and  went  with  them,  but  on  his  entering  the  place,  con- 
science began  to  do  its  work ;  a  trembling  seized  upon  him,  and 
he  clasped  one  of  the  pillars  of  the  building  in  great  agitation 
of  mind;  after  becoming  more  composed,  he  left  the  place  of 
temptation,  and  never  afterwards  attempted  to  go  to  a  theatre 
for  curiosity  or  amusement. 

Years  afterwards,  when  in  manhood's  lofty  prime,  Mr.  Pit- 
man expressed  his  recollections  of  the  teaching  of  his  beloved 
mother  in  stanza,  thus  : 

"  Can  I  forget  those  flowing  tears, 
The  index  of  a  mother's  heart ; 
Which  threw  across  my  following  years 
Restraints  of  pleasing,  painful  smart  ? 

"  Can  I  forget  those  ardent  prayars, 

Which  plead  for  me  at  mercy's  throne, 
That  sav'd  from  sin's  bewitching  snares, 
My  heart  to  Jesus  might  be  won  ? 

"  Nay !  though  a  thousand  pleasing  scenes 

Are  buried  in  oblivion's  shade, 
Or  lost  in  faint  and  shadowy  dreams, 
Are  doomed  with  earthly  things  to  fade. 

"  Yet  still  that  widowed  form  I  see, 

Her  cherished  boy  close  at  her  side ; 
For  him  she  bowed  the  suppliant  knee, 
For  him  poured  forth  affection's  tide. 

"  That  venerated  form  I  see 

In  recollection's  visions  bright, 
And  she  who  once  was  all  to  me, 
Is  still  an  object  of  delight." 


EARLY   CONVERSION.  5 

When  in  his  sixteenth  year,  as  aforesaid,  Mr.  Pitman,  at  a 
meeting  held  in  the  old  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  at  Wrights- 
town,  N.  J.,  a  few  miles  from  the  place  where  he  was  born, 
sought  the  pardon  of  his  sins,  and  obtained  a  sense  of  their  for- 
giveness from  God.  His  conversion  was  marked  by  consider- 
able physical  excitement.  He  fell  to  the  floor,  where,  after  re- 
maining for  some  time  in  earnest  prayer  and  pleading  with  God 
for  His  mercy,  he  rose,  "  freely  justified  by  His  grace."  His  heart 
warmed  with  zeal  for  the  conversion  of  his  young  companions, 
and  he  felt  within  him  an  impression  that  whomsoever  he  should 
touch  would  yield  to  the  offers  of  mercy,  and  enlist  in  the  army 
of  the  Captain  of  Salvation.  Impressed  thus,  he  started  down 
the  aisle  of  the  church  towards  the  door,  where  many  of  his 
young  friends  and  acquaintances  were  sitting.  Some  rose  from 
their  seats  and  fled,  while  others,  reached  by  his  hand,  yielded 
to  the  call  and  gave  themselves  to  the  Lord.  We  are  not  to 
view  this  instance  of  extraordinary  influence  and  power  accord- 
ing to  our  Methodistic  doctrine,  as  the  result  of  an  irresistible 
decree,  but,  without  doubt,  there  may  have  been  some  peculiar 
influence,  or  call  of  the  Spirit,  which  led  them  to  join  in  with 
the  earnest  solicitations  of  their  friend  and  companion. 

The  prayers  and  tears  of  a  loved  mother  were  successful  at  a 
throne  of  grace,  and  God  graciously  regarded  her  supplications 
in  the  conversion  of  her  son.  Mr.  Pitman  continues  a  remem- 
brance of  his  conversion  in  the  following  poetic  effusion  : 

"  'She  sow'd  in  tears,'  'She  reaps  in  joy/ 
Those  tears  all  fell  in  mercy's  sight ; 
They  plead  protection  for  her  boy ; 
God  said  again,  'Let  there  be  light.' 

The  clouds  dispersed,  the  shadows  fled, 

A  light  upon  my  pathway  shone, 
And  since  that  hour,  my  God  hath  led 

Me  by  a  way  I  had  not  known. 


6  LIFE   OF   REV.    CHARLES   PITMAN,   D.D. 

"  In  sunny  childhood,  wayward  youth, 

Ere  passed  life's  rosy  spring, 
'Made  free '  by  heaven's  unerring  truth, 
His  pardoning  mercy  I  could  sing." 

Soon  after  his  conversion  Mr.  Pitman  was  called  to  labor 
publicly  in  the  church  of  Christ.  It  was  soon  found  that  he 
possessed  considerable  gift  in  prayer,  and  would  relate  his  Chris- 
tian experience  with  an  earnestness  and  zeal,  and  with  such 
pathos  and  power  that  it  seemed  to  move  all  present.  The 
class-leaders  found  in  him  a  valuable  assistant  in  their  work. 
As  well  in  a  more  public  manner  did  he  exemplify  his  gifts 
in  exhortation ;  and  so  much  so  that  the  church  began  to  test  his 
capabilities  by  various  methods  and  means  of  public  exercises, 
until  (as  it  soon  did),  it  became  satisfied  that  Mr.  Pitman  was 
called  to  preach  the  gospel. 

At  about  the  age  of  seventeen,  young  Mr.  Pitman  engaged  in 
teaching  a  country  school,  some  two  and  a  half  miles  from  his 
mother's  residence,  he  having  obtained,  between  the  periods  of 
his  labor,  and  at  such  other  intervals  as  he  could  husband  his 
time  for  such  opportunities,  the  information  necessary  for  teach- 
ing the  branches  which  were  then  required  for  a  common  school 
education.  He  had  a  considerable  distance  to  walk  from  his 
school  to  his  home,  but  was  not  always  left  to  travel  the  road 
alone.  A  favorite  cat  (all  great  geniuses  have  particular  pets), 
would  meet  him,  and,  perched  upon  his  shoulders,  would  ride 
with  delight  to  her  master's  home.  This  cat  was  specially 
attached  to  Mr.  Pitman,  and  he  would  welcome  "  puss  "  as  his 
companion,  hour  by  hour,  and  she  would  seek  his  company  in 
preference  to  any  one  else ;  and,  it  is  said,  she  was  remarkable 
for  her  instinct  and  seeming  intelligence. 

Mr.  Pitman,  while  teaching  school  near  Cookstown,  often  used 
to  walk  over  to  New  Mills  (now  Pemberton)  on  a  Sabbath  morn- 
ing, and  preach  and  hold  meetings  in  that  place ;  and  it  has  been 
said  that  the  people  were  very  much  interested  in  his  preaching. 


CALL   TO   PREACH   THE   GOSPEL.  7 

and  were  the  first  to  discover  that  he  possessed  the  talents  and 
gifts  of  what  proved,  in  after  years,  to  be  a  great  blessing  to  the 
Church,  and  designated  him  as  an  able  minister  of  Jesus  Christ. 
About  this  time  young  Mr.  Pitman  was  deeply  impressed  in 
reference  to  what  was  to  be  his  calling  and  future  life-work. 
The  lessons  of  a  pious  mother  were  not  given  in  vain  ;  the  seed 
sown  was  to  produce  abundant  fruit ;  that  orphan  boy  the  sub- 
ject of  many  a  prayer  and  who  had  such  limited  opportunities 
was  to  blow  the  gospel  trumpet  in  the  years  to  come  with  an 
earnestness  and  success  almost  unparalleled  in  the  church's  his- 
tory. That  devoted  mother  was  yet  to  hear  from  those  lips  that 
she  had  taught  in  his  infancy  to  lisp  the  name  of  Jesus,  the 
royal  proclamation  sounding  forth,  to  which  thousands  were  to 
give  heed,  and  accept  Christ  as  their  Saviour  and  salvation.  In 
the  fall  of  1814,  Rev.  Joseph  Bennett  of  the  Philadelphia  Con- 
ference had  addressed  a  letter  to  his  cousin  Charles,  admonishing 
him  to  hold  fast  his  integrity,  and  expressing  a  hope  that  he 
would  eventually  see  him  laboring  in  the  vineyard  of  the 
Lord.  From  this  letter  we  extract  the  following,  which  is  its 
closing  paragraph.  It  was  dated,  Asbury  Cir.,  Oct.  24,  1814. 

"  O,  my  cousin,  seek  pure  and  undefiled  religion.  I  have  not  been 
without  my  hopes  of  seeing  you  in  the  Lord's  vineyard,  tilling  Imman- 
ueFs  ground.  But  knowing,  as  I  do  by  experience,  the  many  snares  of 
the  devil,  the  lusts  of  the  flesh  and  the  allurements  of  the  world,  I  some- 
times fear  my  hopes  will  be  baffled.  O,  my  dear  Charles,  cast  away 
every  Babylonish  garment.  Like  Joseph,  tear  away  from  every  smiling 
mistress,  and,  like  Samuel,  say  'Speak,  Lord,  for  thy  servant  heareth;  ' 
wait  on  the  Lord's  command  and  the  openings  of  Providence ;  '  Watch 
and  pray ; '  take  up  your  daily  cross,  read,  meditate.  Write  to  me,  and 
pray  for  me.  Keep  out  of  company  as  much  as  possible,  and  I  shall 
have  hopes  of  yet  seeing  a  relation  of  mine  in  the  vineyard  of  the  Lord. 
'  May  the  God  of  all  grace  bless  you  with  all  spiritual  blessings  I ' 
"  I  am,  dear  cousin, 

"  Yours  in  love, 

"JOSEPH  BENNETT." 

This  letter,  written  by  Rev.  Mr.  Bennett,  was  what  settled 


8  LIFE   OF   REV.    CHARLES   PITMAN,    D.D. 

the  conviction  in  Charles  Pitman's  mind  of  his  call  and  duty  to 
preach  the  gospel,  and  under  God  inaugurated  that  great  career 
of  usefulness  which  brought  so  much  blessed  fruit  to  our 
Methodism,  and  sent  him  as  a  flaming  herald  from  one  end  of 
the  State  to  the  other,  preaching  Christ  and  him  crucified. 

Rev.  Mr.  Bennett  was  called  suddenly,  in  1822,  to  depart  this 
life,  in  Warren  County,  N.  J.  Several  years  after  writing  this 
letter,  he  withdrew  from  the  Conference  and  engaged  in  mercan- 
tile business.  While  on  his  return  home  from  a  journey  to 
Philadelphia,  where  he  had  gone  to  purchase  goods  for  his  store, 
he  was  riding  down  a  steep,  rocky  hill  near  Oxford  Furnace 
his  horse  became  frightened  and  unmanageable,  and  he  was 
thrown  out  of  his  carriage  and  severely  injured.  He  was  taken 
to  a  residence  near  by  and  soon  died.  Mr.  Bennett  is  spoken  of, 
even  in  this  day  (1887),  as  a  very  earnest  and  acceptable  minister 
of  the  gospel,  and  was  successful  in  winning  souls.  A  man 
whose  daily  life  and  conversation  preached  Christ  as  well  as  his 
lips.  He  dedicated  the  old  M.  E.  Church  at  Leesburg,  Port 
Elizabeth  Circuit,  New  Jersey  Conference,  over  seventy  years 
ago,  and  was  noted  for  his  wonderful  power  in  revivals.  It 
is  a  sad  thought  that  such  a  man  should  ever  have  been  com- 
pelled to  sever  his  ministerial  relation  with  the  Conference ;  his 
name  ought  to  have  been  continued  on  the  roll,  whether  in  active 
service  or  not.  And  while  the  apostle  cautions  the  church  to 
lay  hands  suddenly  on  no  man,  it  would  be  well  for  it  to  heed 
how  it  takes  its  hands  off  of  some  men. 

His  grandson,  Rev.  J.  P.  Connelly,  of  New  Jersey  Confer- 
ence, now  represents  him  in  preaching  the  word  of  life. 

Mr.  Pitman,  being  now  thrust  out  into  a  new  field,  and  feel- 
ing greatly  the  demands  of  the  position,  had  some  misgivings  in 
the  matter  of  entering  the  work  of  the  ministry,  and  though 
born  with  an  intellect  that  inclined  him  to  the  pursuit  of  knowl- 
edge, he  felt  ihat  there  were  difficulties  in  the  way  to  his  attain- 
ment to  the  exalted  position  of  a  minister  in  the  church  of  Christ. 


LICENSED  TO  PREACH.  9 

His  advantages  had  been  limited ;  books  were  few,  and  the 
opportunities  for  study  were  not  only  rare,  but  even  they  had 
their  embarrassments.  The  day-time  was  required  for  the  pur- 
suit of  his  occupation,  while  the  evenings  afforded  but  meagre 
opportunity,  by  a  light  created  with  pine-knots  which  he  gathered 
from  the  woods,  and  shavings  which  he  procured  from  a  neigh- 
boring wheelwright's  shop,  to  read  an  occasional  volume  that 
might,  incidentally  or  otherwise,  come  within  his  reach,  but  he 
persevered,  and,  after  teaching  school  for  a  while  in  the  country, 
near  the  place  where  he  was  born,  he  obtained  another  school  in 
New  Mills  (now  called  Pemberton),  and  taught  in  what  was  for 
a  time  the  old  parsonage  house,  on  New  Mills  Circuit,  and  which 
is  still  standing,  and  occupied  as  a  storehouse,  being  the  adjoin- 
ing building  to  the  one  in  which  the  author  of  this  biography 
was  born,  and  between  whose  parents  and  Mr.  Pitman  there 
was  a  life-long  intimacy  and  friendship. 

Subsequently  Mr.  Pitman  was  licensed  to  exhort  at  the  Quar- 
terly Conference  for  New  Mills  Circuit,  in  September,  1816,  and 
as  a  local  preacher  in  March,  1817. 

Mr.  Pitman  felt  that  he  was  called  to  go  and  preach  the  gos- 
pel in  connection  with  the  Methodist  itinerancy,  but  the  cross 
seemed  too  heavy,  the  sacrifices  and  deprivations  which  a  minis- 
ter was  required  to  make,  the  toil  and  hardship  which  in  those 
days,  he  was  required  to  undergo,  had  great  influence  upon  his 
mind,  and  tended  to  unsettle  his  convictions  as  to  whether  the 
Lord  had  really  designed  him  for  the  regular  work  of  the 
ministry,  and  besides  this  he  had  married  a  wife,  Miss  Mary 
Newbold,  of  Wrightstown,  N.  J.,  and  thinking  his  condition  in 
a  married  relation  would  be  a  bar  to  his  admission  into  the 
conference,  as  at  that  time  the  church  was  very  particular  not 
to  burden  the  people  too  soon  with  preachers  who  had  fami- 
lies, or  were  married  which  would  necessitate  the  circuits  and 
charges  to  procure  parsonages  and  increase  the  expenses.  One 
short  year  of  wedded  life  passed  away,  and  the  young  teacher 


10  LIFE   OF   REV.   CHARLES   PITMAN,   D.D. 

and  preacher  was  a  widower,  with  a  young  son  to  watch  over, 
provide  for  and  train  for  future  life.  This  event  was  a  sad 
blow  to  his  affections,  and  for  several  years  afterward  he  lived 
as  a  widower  cherishing  greatly  the  memory  of  his  young  and 
beautiful  wife,  who  had  been  so  soon  and  suddenly  taken  from 
him. 

In  a  poetical  effusion  of  his  in  later  years,  he  thus  commemo- 
rates the  memory  of  the  departed : 

"  And  can  it  be  ?  It  seems  a  dream 
Has  Mary  left  this  mortal  scene  ? 
So  soon  resigned  her  youthful  breath 
To  claim  a  kindredship  with  death. 

"  Her  active  spirit  would  not  stay, 
Too  circumscrib'd  its  house  of  clay; 
Like  chrysalis,  in  hull  confined, 
The  body  's  but  the  cell  of  mind. 

"  The  cell  was  broke ;  that  beauteous  thing 
Shook  off  its  coils  and  spread  its  wing ; 
With  angel  bands  then  soared  away 
To  sing  God's  praise  in  endless  day. 

"  But  though  she  's  thron'd  in  realms  of  light, 
We  can  but  mourn  her  early  flight; 
And  could  affection's  tears  prevail, 
She  still  had  dwelt  in  sorrow's  vale. 

"  Yet  though  our  erring,  selfish  love, 
Could  scarce  consent  to  her  remove ; 
Departed  Shade  !  we  murmur  not, 
But  kiss  the  rod,  though  hard  our  lot." 

The  loss  of  his  wife  was  regarded  by  Mr.  Pitman,  (as  he 
said  himself),  a  dispensation  of  Providence,  chastening  him  for 
his  neglect  of  ministerial  duty,  and  refusal  to  obey  at  once  the 
call  of  God  to  preach  the  gospel,  and  we  find  him  soon  after- 
wards under  this  impression  yielding  to  the  call  of  the  Spirit. 


BEGINS   HIS   LIFE   WORK.  11 

In  the  winter  of  1816,  the  Rev.  E.  Page,  then  a  local  preacher, 
and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Pitman  held  a  Christmas  meeting  at  "Three 
Tuns/'  now  called  Hedding,  on  the  Columbus  Circuit,  New 
Jersey  Conference.  This  meeting  was  visited  in  an  especial 
manner  with  the  outpouring  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  there  was 
much  physical,  as  well  as  spiritual  excitement  manifest  on  the  oc- 
casion. A  young  girl  about  twelve  years  of  age,  attending  these 
services,  was  so  wrought  upon  after  her  conversion,  that  she 
ran  from  place  to  place,  declaring  what  God  had  done  for  her 
soul.  This  produced  a  great  effect  among  the  unawakened  and 
ungodly,  and  so  powerful  were  her  words,  and  so  clear  her  ex- 
perience, that  scores  were  deeply  convicted  and  yielded  to  her 
invitations  to  come  and  seek  the  Lord,  and  a  glorious  ingather- 
ing of  souls  followed.  Soon  afterwards  she  joined  the  Church, 
and  became  one  of  its  most  earnest  and  active  members,  and  in 
her  Christian  life,  so  exemplified  the  truth  and  power  of  re- 
ligion, among  her  friends  and  acquaintances,  that  no  one  either 
saint  or  sinner  ever  doubted  the  genuineness  of  her  conversion, 
or  the  reality  of  the  religion  which  she  so  openly  and  publicly 
professed.  She  lived  for  many  years  "  a  burning  and  shining 
light "  in  the  Church  of  God,  and  at  last  died  a  triumphant 
death,  and  went  home  to  heaven. 

Already  we  see  the  presence  of  God,  accompanying  the  labors 
of  these  local  brethren,  who  both  afterwards  became  honored 
itinerant  ministers  of  the  church,  spreading  the  glad  tidings  of 
the  gospel  of  the  grace  of  God. 

In  the  year  eighteen  hundred  and  seventeen,  in  the  twenty- 
first  year  of  his  age,  Mr.  Pitman  entered  upon  his  life's  voca- 
tion, and  began  regularly  preaching  the  gospel.  A  certain 
writer  describes  his  first  efforts  as  being  of  a  calm  and  quiet 
manner,  without  ostentation,  or  even  an  indication  of  those  great 
powers  which  characterized  his  preaching  in  after  years.  "  He 
felt  his  need  of  divine  help,  and  the  responsibility  of  the  great 
work  in  which  he  had  now  engaged,  and  was  peculiarly  solemn 


12  LIFE   OF   EEV.   CHARLES   PITMAN,   D.D. 

in  the  discharge  of  it,"  which  solemnity,  it  is  said,  characterized 
his  ministrations  all  through  his  after  life.  He  felt  that  he  had 
received  his  commission  from  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  the  death  of 
his  young  and  beautiful  wife  a  few  months  before  had  made  a 
deep  and  most  serious  impression  upon  his  mind,  that  he  ought  to 
have  been  more  decided  and  taken  these  steps  at  an  earlier  period. 

"  Some  time  during  the  year  1817,  the  health  of  Rev.  Daniel 
Moore  so  far  failed  as  to  require  him  to  give  up  his  work  on 
Trenton  Circuit,  and  Charles  Pitman  was  appointed  to  supply 
his  place.  It  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  his  first  sermon  as  an 
itinerant,  was  preached  in  the  old  church,  corner  of  Green  and 
Academy  Streets,  in  that  city,  the  scene  of  so  many  of  his  sub- 
sequent efforts,  and  within  thirty  yards  of  the  place  where,  after 
thirty-seven  years  of  almost  unparalleled  toils  and  triumphs,  he 
yielded  up  his  soul  to  God."  * 

In  the  spring  of  1818  Mr.  Pitman  was  recommended  from 
the  Trenton  Circuit,  and  was  received  on  trial  in  the  Philadel- 
phia Conference,  held  at  St.  George's,  Bishops  George  and  Rob- 
erts presiding,  with  a  class  consisting  of  the  names  of  James 
Long,  Samuel  Grace  and  William  Wright,  and  was  returned 
with  George  Banghart  as  colleague  to  Trenton  Circuit,  New  Jer- 
sey. It  embraced  at  that  time  the  following  appointments : 
Penniugton,  River  Church,  Lambertville,  Princeton,  Allen- 
town,  Crosswicks,  Recklesstown,  Bordentown  and  Hightstown. 

The  statistics  indicate  a  year  of  good  success,  and  his  labors 
on  Trenton  Circuit  at  that  time  were  spoken  of  in  subsequent 
years  by  his  colleague,  Rev.  Mr.  Banghart,  "  as  being  very  ac- 
ceptable to  the  people,  and  his  influence  remarkably  effective  in 
impressing  the  unconverted  with  the  importance  of  seeking 
Christ  in  the  pardon  of  their  sins." 

It  has  been  said  of  him  that,  when  going  round  his  first  cir- 
cuit for  the  last  time  previous  to  the  Conference,  he  preached  at 
a  certain  place,  and  he  thought  it  the  poorest  effort  he  had  made 

*  Rev.  E.  H.  Stokes'  "  Memorial  Volume." 


ENCOURAGEMENT.  13 

in  all  his  previous  life.  He  had  no  light  on  the  subject ;  he  was 
mortified  and  chagrined  at  his  failure,  and  felt  as  if  he  never 
could  try  again ;  that  the  cause  of  God  was  suffering,  having  so 
feeble  an  advocate;  he  could  hardly  hold  up  his  head,  or  look 
any  one  in  the  face.  He  wondered  what  his  official  men  would 
think ;  it  was  near  the  session  of  the  Conference,  and  much  de- 
pended upon  the  success  of  his  work,  and  the  impressions  he 
had  made  upon  tKis  circuit  as  to  what  should  be  given  him,  and 
where  he  would  be  appointed  the  coming  year.  A  failure  in  a 
year's  work,  or  even  in  a  single  sermon  near  the  session  of  an 
Annual  Conference,  sometimes  works  disastrously  to  an  itinerant 
minister  of  the  gospel.  For  five  years  he  thought  of  that  effort 
with  excessive  mortification ;  and  five  years  after  it  had  taken 
place,  a  gentleman  and  lady  of  great  respectability  and  extensive 
personal  influence  came  to  him  at  a  camp-meeting  held  in  the 
lower  part  of  New  Jersey,  and  with  tears  rolling  down  their 
cheeks,  informed  him  that  under  a  sermon  preached  by  him  at 
such  a  place,  and  at  such  a  time,  they  were  awakened  and  con- 
verted to  God,  and  that  it  was  the  sermon  which  proved  the  means 
of  their  salvation,  and  that  they  should  bless  God  for  it  in  time, 
and  no  doubt  far  on  in  the  ages  of  eternity,  and  that  they  had 
now  come  to  express  their  gratitude  to  him  for  that  discourse. 
Mr.  Pitman  looked  upon  them  both,  and,  listening  to  their 
statement  with  great  astonishment,  recalled  the  fact,  that  that 
was  the  sermon  that  he  had  considered  an  entire  failure,  and  of 
which  he  was  so  long  and  heartily  ashamed  ;  but  this  unex- 
pected news  was  like  cool  water  to  a  thirsty  soul.  It  was  like 
good  news  from  afar ;  it  was  as  refreshing  to  him  as  the  dews  of 
heaven.  He  thanked  God  and  took  courage.  He  firmly  re- 
solved, ever  after  that  period,  to  do  his  duty  and  leave  the  re- 
sult with  God.  He  remembered  the  words  of  the  Psalmist, 
which  were  very  sweet  to  him,  and  from  which  he  used  to 
preach  with  such  unction  and  power :  "  He  that  goeth  forth 


14  LIFE   OF   REV.    CHARLES   PITMAN,   D.D. 

weeping,  bearing  precious  seed,  shall  doubtless  come  again 
with  rejoicing,  bringing  his  sheaves  with  him." 

In  1819  Mr.  Pitman  was  sent  to  Bergen  Circuit,  with  Rev. 
John  Potts  as  his  colleague ;  the  circuit  was  large,  requiring 
long  rides  to  the  appointments,  and  among  a  class  of  people  not 
very  favorable  to  Methodism ;  but  he  labored  faithfully  and 
earnestly,  and  the  good  seed  sown  by  the  gospel  sower  was  pro- 
ductive of  fruit.  There  was  an  increase  of  eig*hty-two  members, 
and  the  churches  were  well  attended  by  many  people. 

To  give  the  reader  some  idea  of  an  old  time  country  circuit, 
over  which  itinerant  ministers  at  that  period  traveled,  and  of 
their  labors,  we  append  the  following,  taken  from  a  memoran- 
dum book  of  Mr.  Pitman's,  and  which  shows  the  preaching 
places,  and  the  texts  from  which  he  preached  at  each  place,  and 
the  number  of  members  in  each  -class  connected  with  the  charge. 
We  give  the  name  of  the  appointment  on  the  circuit,  and  the 
number  of  members  of  the  society  at  the  appointment.  Bergen 
Circuit  contained  in  1819  the  following  preaching  places  :  Bell- 
ville,  thirty-two  members  ;  Spring  Garden,  twenty-five ;  Bloom- 
field,  thirty ;  Caldwell,  twenty ;  Paramus,  two  classes,  sixty 
white  and  seven  colored  members ;  Sherwood's,  ten  members ; 
Widow  Guiness's,  thirty-two ;  Drummond's,  sixteen  ;  Johnson's, 
seven  ;  Babcock's,  twenty-five ;  Theill's,  thirty-eight ;  Haver- 
straw,  fifty-nine  white  and  four  colored ;  Nyack,  twenty-seven 
white  and  four  colored  ;  Pond,  twenty-six ;  Taylor's,  eleven ; 
Williams',  five;  Fort  Lee,  twenty-seven  white  and  four  col- 
ored ;  Bull's  Ferry,  one  (it  required  some  faith  to  preach  at  an 
appointment  with  but  one  member)  ;  Ringwood,  twenty-two 
white  and  five  colored ;  Paterson,  three  classes,  fifty-six  mem- 
bers ;  making  twenty-two  preaching  places,  with  four  hundred 
and  eighty-two  white  and  eighteen  colored  members. 

Think  of  an  ordinary  preaching  appointment  or  circuit,  ex- 
tending from  Hudson  City  Heights,  up  the  Hudson  River,  to 
North  Haverstraw,  the  distance  of  some  forty  or  fifty  miles ; 


EXTENT  OF  THE   CIRCUIT.  15 

thence  extending  inland  some  thirty-five  or  forty  miles  to  Ring- 
wood  ;  thence  along  the  Green  and  Stony  Brook  Mountain 
range  down  a  southeasterly  course  to  Boonton,  and  thence  down 
the  Orange  Valley  to  Bloomfield,  within  four  miles  of  the  city 
of  Newark,  embracing  all  that  vast  extent  of  country  lying 
within  this  boundary.  Think  what  these  appointments  have 
now  become  under  the  fostering  care  of  faithful  pastors  since 
that  time ;  not  only  have  they  become  flourishing  charges  them- 
selves, but  this  country,  late  a  howling  wilderness,  now  blooms 
with  all  the  beauty  of  a  modern  Eden,  and  blossoms  with  the 
exquisites  of  "  Sharon's  dewy  rose." 

Think  of  that  circuit  now  (1887),  sixty-eight  years  ago.  What 
was  then  the  territory  of  a  single  circuit,  now  embraces  nearly 
one  entire  Conference  District,  and  parts  of  three  others.  Two 
of  the  present  societies  included  within  what  was  formerly  the 
bounds  of  this  circuit,  now  contain  more  members  than  did  the 
whole  circuit  at  the  time  when  Mr.  Pitman  was  the  preacher  in 
charge,  and  quite  a  number  of  any  two  of  the  present  charges 
put  together  would  also  more  than  outnumber  the  membership 
of  the  former  circuit,  and  where  Mr.  Pitman  and  his  colleague 
cultivated  the  field,  as  one  charge  or  circuit,  now  more  than 
thirty  preachers  are  actively  employed  in  the  same  labor,  and 
where  the  amount  of  four  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  was  paid  to 
each  preacher  as  salary,  traveling  expenses,  and  house-rent  in- 
cluded, is  now  paid  for  the  support  of  the  preachers  who  culti- 
vate that  field,  not  including  house-rent  or  traveling  expenses^ 
twenty-eight  thousand  three  hundred  and  ninety  dollars. 

What  courage  !  What  a  spirit  of  true  heroism  did  it  require 
in  those  men  who  cultivated  that  immense  field  where  now  thir- 
ty or  more  ministers  find  active  employment.  Well  may  we 
exclaim,  as  we  contemplate  these  facts,  "What  hath  God 
wrought ! "  and  with  adoring  and  devout  gratitude  thank  Him 
for  the  illustrious  Fathers  of  Methodism,  and  their  truly  great 
and  noble  work  for  God  and  humanity. 


CHAPTER   II. 

MR.  PITMAN'S  SUBSEQUENT  FIELDS  OF  LABOR. 

IN  1820  Mr.  Pitman  was  returned  to  Bergen  Circuit,  with  his 
old  friend  and  fellow-laborer,  Rev.  George  Banghart,  as 
colleague.  They  seemed,  somehow,  to  be  specially  adapted  to 
each  other  in  ministerial  work,  and  worked  so  well  together  that 
wherever  Pitman  and  Banghart  labored,  the  place  or  Circuit  was 
sure  to  be  visited  with  a  gracious  revival  and  a  general  upbuild- 
ing of  the  Church ;  and  Banghart,  to  the  latest  hour  of  his 
earthly  life,  esteemed  Charles  Pitman  as  one  of  the  greatest  and 
most  spiritual  preachers  he  ever  knew.  That  year,  notwith- 
standing the  good, — and,  considering  the  circumstances,  we  may 
say  great, — work  of  the  former  year,  fifty  more  were  added  to 
the  Church.  "Among  those  converted  was  Charles  Dougherty, 
who  up  to  this  time  had  been  a  Roman  Catholic.  Through 
much  opposition  he  became  a  Methodist.  Soon  after  his  con- 
version he  was  elected  to  fill  the  office  of  trustee.  Not  being 
acquainted  with  the  duties  of  such  an  office,  he  inquired  of  some 
of  his  brethren  what  he  was  to  do ;  and  among  other  things,  was 
told  he  must  assist  in  taking  the  collection  on  the  Sabbath. 
Willing  to  serve  the  Church  in  any  way,  he  commenced  his  du- 
ties at  once.  Accordingly,  on  the  following  Sabbath,  he  took 
the  purse,  which,  in  those  days,  was  suspended  at  the  end  of  a 
staff  some  five  or  six  feet  long,  and  passed  it  among  the  audience 
to  receive  their  contributions.  A  large  number,  however,  gave 
him,  as  he  passed,  only  a  very  respectful  bow.  This,  in  his  simpli- 
city, he  supposed  meant,  they  were  willing  to  contribute,  but  not 
having  the  means  at  hand  to  do  so  then,  wished  him  to  do  it  for 
them,  and  charge  it  to  their  account.  Anxious  to  do  the  best  he 
16 


ORDAINED   A   DEACON.  17 

could,  and  as  far  as  possible  accommodate  all,  he  went  to  the 
house  of  God  on  the  following  Sabbath  with  his  pockets  filled  with 
change.  As  he  passed  along  from  seat  to  seat,  the  people  began 
to  bow  again,  and  every  time  they  bowed,  he  dropped  a  penny  in 
the  purse  to  their  account.  They  looked  amazed.  What  does 
the  new  trustee  mean  ?  The  third  Sabbath,  however,  all  were 
prepared,  and  instead  of  bows,  they  gave  their  money.  Brother 
Dougherty  had  cured  them."  * 

"About  the  middle  of  this  Conference  year  (1820),  Rev.  Jacob 
Moore,  who  had  been  laboring  at  New  Brunswick,  failed  in 
health,  and  it  became  necessary  to  supply  his  place.  Charles 
Pitman  was  selected  for  this  important  work.  On  the  eighth  day 
of  October,  1820,  he  left  his  friends  on  Bergen  Circuit,  by  whom 
he  was  greatly  beloved,  and  entered  upon  the  duties  of  his  new 
and  responsible  charge  in  the  city.  He  found  but  twenty  mem- 
bers of  the  Church  there,  and  the  very  name  of  Methodist  was  a 
term  so  full  of  reproach  that  few  were  willing  to  bear  the  scorn 
associated  with  it,  and  the  cause  had  been  languishing  for  years. 
The  arrival  of  Mr.  Pitman  gave  a  new  impulse  to  the  drooping 
energies  of  our  Zion,  and  crowds  soon  gathered  to  hear  the  elo- 
quent words  which  fell  in  such  harmonious  accents  from  his  lips. 
The  fame  of  the  preacher  spread  far  and  wide,  so  that  at  the  ex- 
piration of  his  term  of  service  the  Church  had  not  only  increased 
from  twenty  to  one  hundred  members,  but  the  public  sentiment 
in  favor  of  Methodism  had  advanced  an  hundred-fold.  The 
memory  of  his  labors  is  still  cherished  in  New  Brunswick,  and 
a  prosperous  Church,  in  an  enterprising  part  of  the  city,  called 
by  his  name,  stands  a  living  and  lasting  monument  of  his 
fame."  f 

In  the  spring  of  1820,  at  the  Philadelphia  Conference,  which 
met  at  Smyrna,  Delaware,  Bishop  George  presiding,  Mr.  Pitman 
was  ordained  Deacon.  It  would  be  amusing  to  many  a  minister 

*  Eev.  E.  H.  Stokes,  D.  D.,  "Conference  Memorial." 
t  Ibid. 
2 


18  LIFE   OF   REV.    CHARLES   PITMAN,    D.D. 

now  to  see  what  was  the  form  and  size  of  a  preacher's  credentials 
at  that  period,  and  compare  them  with  the  parchments  which  he 
now  receives  at  his  graduation  in  Conference  studies  and  ordina- 
tion. We  cannot  exhibit  these  parchments  to  our  readers,  but 
we  give  a  description  of  them,  and  of  what  they  contain : 

Parchment  for  Deacon's  orders  is  5Jx3£  inches  in  size,  printed  on 
coarse,  heavy  parchment,  and  has  stitched  in  the  right-hand  corner  a 
piece  of  thick  white  paper,  on  which  is  a  good  supply  of  red  sealing-wax, 
which  is  stamped  (one  would  judge  who  was  familiar  with  them)  with 
one  of  those  old-fashioned  pocket-seals  which  were  worn  by  our  fathers 
on  their  watch-chains,  when  watches  were  carried  under  the  lower  edge 
of  the  vest,  with  the  fob-pocket  in  the  pants,  and  the  credentials  read  as 
follows : 

"  KNOW  ALL   MEN  BY  THESE   PRESENTS,  that  I,  ENOCH  GEORGE,  one 

of  the  BISHOPS  or  THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH  IN  AMERICA, 
under  the  protection  of  ALMIGHTY  GOD,  and  with  a  single  eye  to  His 
glory,  by  the  imposition  of  my  hands  and  prayer,  have  this  day  set  apart 
CHARLES  PITMAN  for  the  office  of  a  DEACON  in  the  said  METHODIST 
EPISCOPAL  CHURCH;  a  man  whom  I  judge  to  be  well  qualified  for  that 
work ;  and  I  do  hereby  recommend  him  to  all  whom  it  may  concern  as 
a  proper  person  to  administer  the  ordinances  of  BAPTISM,  MARRIAGE, 
and  the  BURIAL  or  THE  DEAD,  in  the  absence  of  an  ELDER  ;  and  to  feed 
the  flock  of  CHRIST,  so  long  as  his  spirit  and  practice  are  such  as  become 
the  gospel. 

"  IN  TESTIMONY  WHEREOF,  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand  and  seal 
this  sixteenth  day  of  April,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  twenty. 

"  Done  at  Smyrna, } 

Delaware.        j  "ENOCH  GEORGE." 

That  of  the  ordination  of  ELDER  is  a  little  smaller  in  size,  being  5  x  3J 
inches,  with  the  words,  "  being  assisted  by  the  ELDERS  present,"  and  the 
word  "  ELDER  "  substituted  in  place  of  the  word  DEACON,  and  words 
("as  a  proper  person  to  administer  the  sacraments  and  ordinances") 
added. 

"  IN  TESTIMONY  WHEREOF,  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand  and  seal 
this  sixteenth  day  of  April,  in  the  year  of  our  LORD  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  twenty-one. 

"  Done  at  Milford,  in  the } 

State  of  Delaware.  "  ENOCH  GEORGE." 


MISSION   FIELDS.  19 

It  will  be  perceived,  according  to  these  dates,  that  Mr.  Pit- 
man was  ordained  a  deacon  at  the  Conference  held  in  Smyrna, 
Delaware,  April  16,  1820,  and  an  elder  at  the  succeeding  Con- 
ference, held  in  Milford,  Delaware,  April  15,  1821,  within  one 
year,  lacking  one  day,  from  the  time  of  his  receiving  deacon's 
orders,  when  the  usual  term  of  probation,  or  period  elapsing 
between  the  conferring  of  these  different  orders,  is  two  years. 
This  is  to  be  accounted  for,  in  that  his  appointment  was  subse- 
quently made  a  mission,  and  which  he  had  served  six  months 
previous  to  the  session  of  the  Conference,  and  as  he  was  to  be 
returned  to  New  Brunswick  Mission  the  second  year,  he  was  or- 
dained under  the  provision  of  the  Discipline  for  ordination  of 
missionaries  and  preachers  to  mission  fields  and  stations.  This 
will  explain  why  he  was  ordained  a  deacon  one  year  and  an 
elder  the  next  year,  without  passing  the  prescribed  time  of  two 
years  elapsing  from  one  election  to  the  other.  Mr.  Pitman 
labored  on  the  New  Brunswick  Mission  two  years  and  six  months 
in  succession. 

In  1822  Mr.  Pitman  was  returned  to  New  Brunswick,  and 
spent  the  remaining  part  of  the  term  of  pastoral  service  in  that 
place.  The  work  of  God  was  prosperous,  and  his  preaching  at- 
tracted quite  large  congregations.  During  the  first  year  forty- 
four,  and  during  the  second  year  thirty-four,  were  added  *to  the 
church  on  probation,  and  a  number  received  by  letter  from  other 
churches.  Let  it  be  borne  in  mind  that  this  was  about  the  time 
when  Methodism  began  to  be  introduced  fairly  into  New  Bruns- 
wick ;  the  field  had  already  been  occupied  by  other  denomina- 
tions, which  had,  had  precedence  for  years,  and  had  become 
strong  and  influential  among  the  people,  and  it  was  for  years 
that  there  seemed  to  be  no  place  for  our  church  or  chance  for  its 
success.  To  Rev.  Charles  Pitman  belongs  the  honor  of  laying 
the  foundation,  and  to  him  was  due,  more  than  to  any  other  man, 
the  influence  and  wonderful  success  that  Methodism  has  achieved 
in  that  city. 


20  LIFE   OF   REV.   CHARLES   PITMAN,    D.D. 

It  is  said  that  singing  was  one  of  the  elements  of  Mr.  Pit- 
man's power,  and  while  stationed  at  New  Brunswick  he  inaugu- 
rated it,  as  a  special  part  of  the  services,  to  sing,  sometimes  be- 
fore and  sometimes  after  preaching,  or  both.  This  was  a  new 
departure  from  the  custom  and  forms  of  worship  in  the  other 
churches  in  that  city,  and  so  wonderfully  novel  was  it  for  the 
preacher  to  stand  in  the  pulpit  or  altar,  and  sing  for  the  edifica- 
tion of  the  congregation,  that  he,  having  a  superbly  musical 
voice,  and  well  disciplined  to  the  arts  of  sacred  music,  drew  an 
admiring  and  enthusiastic  crowd  of  people  to  his  church,  and  by 
some  it  was  said  to  be  hard  to  tell  whether  the  singing  or  the 
sermon  produced  the  greater  effect  upon  the  people.  Our 
fathers  were  gifted  in  singing,  and  not  infrequently  was  it  the 
case  that  they  selected  the  hymns  and  led  off  in  the  singing 
during  a  revival  effort.  Of  Mr.  Pitman's  singing  we  shall  have 
occasion  to  speak  again  farther  on  in  this  volume. 

The  following  letter,  which  is  from  Mr.  Pitman's  own  hand, 
gives  us  a  statement  as  to  how  the  work  was  progressing  in  New 
Brunswick  at  the  time  of  his  appointment  to  that  city.  It  is 
dated  New  Brunswick,  February  11, 1823,  and  addressed  to  the 
editors  of  the  Methodist  Magazine,  with  this  prefatory  note  : 

"  DEAR  BRETHREN  : 

"  If  you  think  that  the  following  communication  will  be  of  any  ser- 
vice to  the  friends  of  Zion  generally,  or  to  those  in  particular  who  are 
employed  in  the  cultivation  of  Immanuel's  ground,  you  are  at  liberty 
to  give  it  an  insertion  in  your  excellent  Miscellany. 

"  In  the  year  1820,  about  the  middle  of  the  Conference  year,  I  was 
called  and  appointed  by  my  presiding  elder  to  fill  a  vacancy  in'  New 
Brunswick,  occasioned  by  the  indisposition  of  our  beloved  brother, 
Jacob  Moore.  I  must  acknowledge  that  it  was  with  much  reluctance 
I  complied  with  this  appointment.  But  for  this  reluctance  I  had  two 
reasons,  viz. :  I  was  on  a  circuit  where  God  was  pouring  out  His  Spirit, 
and  amongst  a  people  who  were  lively  in  religion,  -and  to  whom  I  was 
very  closely  united  in  religious  affection.  The  other  reason  was,  I  was 
well  acquainted  with  the  almost  insurmountable  difficulties  connected 
with  this  station.  However,  in  obedience  to  those  that  had  the  rule 


LABORS   IN   NEW    BRUNSWICK.  21 

over  me,  I  left  the  circuit,  and  if  ever  I  '  went  forth  weeping,'  I  assure 
you  I  did  so  in  this  case.  When  I  arrived  in  New  Brunswick  I  found  a 
small  society  of  about  seventeen  members,  who  seemed  to  be  rather  weak 
in  faith  and  much  depressed  in  their  spirits.  And  if  the  reader  knew 
as  well  as  the  writer  the  discouragements  under  which  they  had  labored 
for  years  together,  he  could  not  wonder,  but  adore  that  God  who  had 
preserved  them  in  the  midst  of  their  enemies.  My  greatest  discourage- 
ment, however,  was  the  smallness  of  the  congregation.  Such  were  the 
prejudices  of  the  people  against  Methodism  that  it  was  with  great  diffi- 
culty they  could  be  persuaded  to  hear  a  man  of  that  denomination. 

"  Under  such  circumstances  we  had  constant  recourse,  by  prayer  and 
supplication,  to  Him  with  whom  is  the  residue  of  the  Spirit,  and  who 
has  the  hearts  of  all  men  in  his  power.  Hence,  while  the  members  of 
my  little  charge  were  almost  involuntarily  saying  '  By  whom  shall  Jacob 
arise,  for  he  is  small  ?'  my  own  heart,  in  unison  with  theirs,  would  fre- 
quently groan  out,  '  O  Lord,  revive  thy  work  in  the  midst  of  the  years.' 
For  a  few  weeks  my  regular  congregation  did  not  exceed  thirty,  includ- 
ing the  members  of  society.  But  it  was  not  long  before  we  began  to 
hope  that  a  cloud  of  mercy  was  rising  to  water  our  thirsty  Zion.  We 
were  encouraged  to  believe  this  from  the  rapid  increase  of  our  congrega- 
tion. One  circumstance  which,  under  God,  contributed  to  this  was  the 
destitution  of  all  the  other  churches  (with  one  exception)  of  regular 
pastors.  The  circumstance  of  my  being  sent  here  just  at  this  time  I 
have  looked  upon  as  providential.  Be  this  as  it  may,  multitudes  flocked 
to  hear,  so  that  in  three  months'  time  our  church  was  crowded  to  over- 
flowing. Some  heard  in  order  to  cavil,  others  to  learn  our  real  senti- 
ments, and  a  few  to  be  instructed  in  the  science  of  salvation.  During 
the  first  six  months,  however,  little  more  was  done  than  what  was  pre- 
paratory to  what  has  since  followed.  The  prejudices  of  many  were  re- 
moved, some  hearts  were  softened,  a  few  were  converted  and  about  five 
were  added  to  the  society. 

"  At  the  Conference  of  1821  I  received  an  appointment  to  New  Bruns- 
wick as  a  missionary,  as  it  was  supposed  that  the  station  could  not  yet 
support  itself.  Accordingly,  I  returned  to  my  charge,  and  re-commenced 
my  labors  among  them.  During  that  year  there  was  nothing  very 
special,  but  the  good  work  progressed  gradually.  At  the  close  of  this 
year,  although  we  had  no  remarkable  revival,  we  found,  in  taking  our 
numbers  and  comparing  them  with  the  last  year,  that  our  society  was 
exactly  trebled  in  one  year.  At  the  Philadelphia  Conference  for  1822  I 
was  re-appointed  to  this  city,  and  returned  once  more  to  my  beloved 
charge,  under  the  influence  of  both  hope  and  fear.  I  feared  that,  owing 


22  LIFE  OF   REV.   CHARLES  PITMAN,   D.D. 

to  my  weakness  of  body  and  deficiency  in  talents,  I  should  not  be  so 
useful  as  heretofore ;  but  I  hoped  that  God  would  make  up  all  deficien- 
cies by  the  all-powerful  influences  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  This  hope,  in  a 
good  degree,  hag  been  realized.  Our  God  has  been  with  us  and  plead 
our  cause,  and  '  no  weapon  formed  against  us  has  been  able  to  prevail.' 
Thus  we  continued  gradually  to  increase  in  numbers  and  in  grace  until 
the  month  of  July,  when  the  'good-will  of  Him  who  dwelt  in  the  bush' 
was  abundantly  manifested  to  us.  We  had  remarkable  attention  and 
seriousness,  both  under  the  preaching  of  the  Word  and  in  our  prayer- 
meetings.  It  was  at  one  of  our  meetings  for  social  prayer  that  this  good 
work  broke  out.  Some  were  converted  on  the  spot  and  numbers  of 
others  were  awakened  to  a  sense  of  their  lost  and  ruined  condition. 

"  This  blessed  work,  amidst  the  most  powerful  and  general  opposition, 
continued  to  progress  until  it  added  between  twenty  and  thirty  to  our 
communion.  I  have  always  regretted  that  there  was  so  little  disposition 
in  the  other  denominations  to  encourage  this  work.  Had  it  been  other- 
wise, I  believe  hundreds  would  have  become  the  subjects  of  saving 
grace.  At  one  of  our  select  meetings  we  had  about  one  hundred  pres- 
ent, who  apparently  were  serious.  But  effective  measures  were  soon  re- 
sorted to  by  the  relations  and  friends  of  many  of  them  to  prohibit  these 
persons  from  attending  our  meetings  at  all.  How  they  will  answer  for 
such  conduct  I  cannot  tell.  And  what  was  worse  than  all  the  rest,  some 
professors  of  religion  became  open  persecutors,  and  thus  attempted  to 
destroy  what,  by  their  profession,  they  were  bound  to  promote.  But  we 
will  leave  them  in  the  hands  of  God,  who  will  deal  with  every  man  ac- 
cording to  his  work.  Since  that  time  there  has  not  been  a  day  appointed 
for  the  admission  of  probationers  but  what  there  have  been  found  some 
to  avail  themselves  of  the  privilege.  We  have  now  about  one  hundred 
communicants,  and,  with  very  few  exceptions,  we  have  reason  to  believe 
that  they  are  "  earnestly  contending  for  the  faith  once  delivered  unto 
the  saints."  Our  society,  as  far  as  I  know,  is  at  present  in  a  state  of 
peace  and  harmony  which  is  very  essential  to  its  future  prosperity.  The 
work  among  us,  so  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  judge,  has  in  general  been 
Scriptural  and  deep,  indicating  permanency,  and  which  may  account  in 
some  degree  for  the  constancy  and  fidelity  of  its  subjects.  For  during 
the  course  of  two  years  and  a  half,  we  have  not  been  under  the  painful 
necessity  of  expelling  more  than  one  or  two  members  from  society.  But 
notwithstanding  all  the  Lord  has  done  for  us  in  this  place,  Methodism 
is  still  in  its  infancy,  and  there  are  many  'Herods'  here  (both  in  and 
out  of  the  Churches)  who  'seek  the  young  child's  life.'  However,  I 
humbly  trust  the  Lord  will  preserve  it,  and  that  it  will  soon  be  sum- 


WELCOME   AT   BRIDGETON.  23 

ciently  matured  to  hear  and  answer  the  questions,  even  of  the  '  Doctors 
of  the  Temple,'  so  as  to  astonish  and  confound  them.  May  the  Great 
Head  of  the  Church  '  be  a  wall  of  fire '  around  and  about  this  little 
branch  of  Zion,  '  and  the  glory  in  the  midst  of  her.'  And  to  this  petition, 
we  trust,  the  heart  of  every  pious  reader  of  this  sketch  will  respond 
Amen.  C.  PITMAN." 

Mr.  Pitman  went  from  New  Brunswick,  at  the  close  of  his 
ministerial  term,  to  Bridgeton,  N.  J.,  and  spent  the  Conference 
years  of  1823  and  1824  in  that  appointment.  It  had  but  lately 
been  set  off  from  the  adjoining  Circuit,  and  Mr.  Pitman  was  the 
first  preacher  sent  to  it  after  it  was  made  a  station.  The  place 
was  considered,  at  that  time,  one  of  the  best  appointments  on  the 
district,  and  though  a  stranger  in  that  community,  he  received  a 
very  cordial  welcome  to  Bridgeton.  He  commenced  his  labors 
there  on  June  8,  1823,  with  a  sermon  from  2d  Thess.  third 
chapter,  first  verse  :  "  Finally,  brethren,  pray  for  us,  that  the 
word  o'f  the  Lord  may  have  free  course  and  be  glorified."  The 
sermon  created  some  considerable  surprise,  and  it  was  soon  noised 
abroad  that  a  man  of  marked  ability — "a  big  preacher,"  as  he 
was  termed — had  been  sent  to  them,  and  in  the  evening  the  house 
was  crowded,  when  he  preached  from  Psa.  126:  6;  "He  that 
goeth  forth  and  weepeth,  bearing  precious  seed,  shall  doubtless 
come  again  rejoicing,  bringing  his  sheaves  with  him."  The  ser- 
mon has  been  spoken  of  as  one  of  extraordinary  power  and  effect, 
and  opened  the  way  for  his  constantly-increasing  popularity  dur- 
ing the  whole  of  his  ministerial  term  in  that  place,  and  secured  to 
his  future  ministrations  a  large  congregation  of  attentive  listeners. 

Rev.  James  Ayars,  late  Presiding  Elder  of  Newark  District, 
Newark  Conference,  says :  "  The  first  time  I  ever  heard  him 
speak  was  on  the  following  occasion  :  Passing  through  the  street 
in  Bridgeton,  N.  J.,  one  evening  in  warm  weather,  I  heard,  at  a 
distance,  a  voice  which  sounded  so  sweetly  that  I  was  instinct- 
ively drawn  in  the  direction  of  it.  As  I  advanced,  I  saw  the 
door  of  the  house  ajar,  and  soon  learned  that  a  minister  was 


24  LIFE   OF   EEV.    CHARLES   PITMAN,    D.D. 

leading  class  in  a  private  room.  I  listened,  and  such  was  the 
mellowness  of  his  voice  and  the  unction  with  which  he  spoke 
that  I  was  perfectly  charmed,  and  impressions  were  made  upon 
my  heart  never  to  be  effaced.  From  that  hour  I  became  inter- 
ested in  the  man.  As  the  class-meeting  was  held  weekly,  on  a 
subsequent  evening,  although  an  impenitent  youth,  I  formed  one 
of  the  number  present.  After  Mr.  Pitman  had  spoken  to  the 
other  persons  in  the  room,  he  addressed  some  kind  inquiries  to 
me.  Finding  I  had  not  experienced  converting  grace,  he  led  me 
in  a  short  series  of  questions  and  answers,  to  promise  that  I 
would  pray  to  God  for  a  new  heart.  He  then  laid  his  hands 
upon  my  head,  and,  in  a  most  solemn  and  melting  prayer,  called 
upon  God  and  angels  to  witness  my  pledge,  and  entreated  the 
Lord  to  accept  me  as  his  own  dear  child.  Such  was  the  com- 
mencement of  my  own  religious  career,  and  surely  I  have  cause 
to  remember  with  reverence  aud  gratitude  him,  who,  under  God, 
led  me  to  such  a  course  of  life."* 

Some  little  time  after  my  conversion,  said  Rev.  Mr.  Ayars,  I 
went  to  Mr.  Pitman  and  said  to  him  :  "  I  do  not  feel  as  happy 
as  I  did  when  I  was  first  converted."  "  Well,"  said  Mr.  Pit- 
man, "  let  me  see,  you  began  with  thanksgiving  to  God  in  all 
things,  and  resolved  you  never  would  withdraw  from  that  course 
and  manner  of  life,  and  now  are  you  not  thankful  that  God  still 
keeps  you  and  leads  you  to  seek  more  light  ?  Let  us  sing,"  said 
Mr.  Pitman,  and  he  broke  out  with  the  stanza : 

"  Light  in  thy  light,  O  may  I  see, 
Thy  grace  and  mercy  prove." 

"  And  from  that  hour,  that  moment,"  said  Mr.  Ayars,  "  I  have 
always  lived  in  that  1-ight,  and  felt  a  thankful  spirit,  and  my  life  has 
flowed  on  in  an  endless  song  of  thanksgiving  ever  since."  This  was 
more  than  fifty  years  ago,  and  it  illustrates  the  power  and  genuine- 
ness of  the  blessed  gospel  of  Christ  to  infuse  heavenly  light  into 

*  N.  J.  Conference  Memorial. 


MEAGRE   ALLOWANCE.  25 

a  thankful  heart,  and  of  God's  goodness  in  sending  forth  Mr. 
Ayars  as  a  commissioned  messenger  from  his  throne,  to  preach 
that  gospel  and  proclaim  that  light  of  life  to  his  fellow-men. 

The  salary  paid  by  the  charge  was  $300  per  year.  There  was 
no  parsonage-house  at  that  time,  and  the  preacher  boarded  with 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Holmes  Parvin,  the  former  a  local  preacher.  The 
price  of  board  was  two  dollars  per  week,  and  subsequently,  when 
Mrs.  Pitman  came,  it  was  one  dollar  and  fifty  cents  additional 
for  her  board,  and  when  they  were  absent  from  their  home  they 
were  not  charged  for  board,  showing  the  liberality  of  their  host- 
ess to  the  servants  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  as  well  as  the  up- 
rightness of  Mr.  Parvin  in  declining  pay  for  that  which  the 
payer  had  not  received. 

It  seems  almost  incredible,  now,  to  think  of  a  minister  of  the 
gospel  living  on  so  small  a  salary,  especially  so  when  it  is  re- 
membered that  in  those  days  a  minister  of  the  gospel  was  re- 
quired to  be  a  man  of  one  business,  and  to  give  himself  wholly 
to  the  work  of  the  ministry,  and  to  make  full  proof  of  his  call  to 
the  sacred  office  by  his  fidelity  and  faithfulness  in  the  discharge 
of  all  its  duties  and  weighty  obligations.  No  minister  of  those 
times  would  have  been  permitted  (tolerated)  to  have  engaged  in 
secular  pursuits,  life  insurance,  brokerage,  agricultural  specu- 
lations, sea-side  resorts,  when  chiefly  speculative,  gold  or  silver 
mining  interests,  stocks  or  any  other  similar  business. 

The  minister,  in  those  times,  who  would  have  ventured  in  any- 
thing of  this  kind  would  soon  have  been  declared  to  be  too  secu- 
lar for  his  calling,  or  so  entangled  with  the  affairs  of  this  world 
as  to  be  no  longer  useful  in  the  sacred  office.  It  would  have 
been  a  great  blessing  to  the  church,  as  well  as  a  distinguished 
honor  to  the  ministry  had  this  ministerial  exclusiveness  to 
their  calling  been  strictly  adhered  to,  and  stringently  re- 
quired of  the  ministry  of  subsequent  times,  and  our  church 
would  have  been  saved  from  the  odium  and  reproach  which  a 
too-eager  spirit  for  the  gain  of  earthly  treasure  has  manifested, 


26  LIFE   OF   REV.    CHARLES   PITMAN,    D.D. 

it  having  become  too  common  even  in  the  eyes  of  worldly  and 
unsaved  men. 

Mr.  Pitman  was  an  active,  energetic  and  successful  book 
agent,  but  selling  religious  books,  and  keeping  the  societies  well 
supplied  with  them  was  deemed  a  legitimate  business  for  an  old- 
time  Methodist  minister,  and  the  circulation  of  religious  litera- 
ture was  considered  as  a  part  of  his  work.  In  this  way  he  con- 
tributed to  the  edification  and  education  of  his  hearers,  as  well  as 
to  their  spiritual  interests.  Mr.  Wesley  said  to  his  preachers  : 
"  Carry  books  with  you  through  every  round ;  exert  yourselves  in 
this  ;  be  not  ashamed,  be  not  weary,  leave  no  stone  unturned." 

But  while  Mr.  Pitman  was  active  in  the  dissemination  of  re- 
ligious literature,  it  is  also  to  be  remembered  that  he  was  equally 
active  in  preaching  the  gospel,  teaching  Bible-class,  leading  class 
and  visiting  his  people.  From  an  old  record  of  his  work  we 
learn  that  he  preached  over  three  hundred  and  twenty-five  ser- 
mons while  stationed  at  Bridgeton,  beside  similar  work  which 
he  did  in  various  other  places.  Of  Mr.  Pitman  as  a  preacher 
we  shall  speak  elsewhere;  of  the  character  of  Mr.  Pitman's 
preaching,  his  sketches  indicate  thorough  work  in  the  exposition 
of  gospel  truth ;  "  a  workman  that  needeth  not  to  be  ashamed  ; " 
plain,  practical,  sharp  and  incisive,  he  rightly  divided  the  word 
of  truth,  giving  to  both  saint  and  sinner  their  portion  in  due' 
season  ;  and  it  would  seem,  from  the  order  in  which  he  has  re- 
corded his  texts,  that  it  was  his  universal  custom  to  preach 
specially  to  the  church  in  the  morning,  and  to  direct  his  dis- 
course to  the  unconverted  in  the  evening,  and  he  did  not  wait 
for  a  winter  month  to  invite  and  urge  sinners  to  come  to  Christ 
and  be  saved.  The  hours  of  meeting  on  Sabbath  were  10  A.M. 
and  6  P.M.,  and  sometimes  he  would  preach  at  3  P.M. 

Mr.  Pitman  preached  the  doctrines  of  religion.  Both  the  texts 
and  sketches  indicate  that  he  had  studied  thoroughly  the  doc- 
trines of  the  Bible,  and  was  an  able  expositor  of  the  fundamental 
principles  of  Christianity.  Our  fathers  did  much  of  this  kind  of 


DEATH   OF   HIS   MOTHER.  27 

preaching,  and  they  selected  such  subjects  as  the  "  Fall  of  Man," 
"  Repentance,"  "  Faith,"  "  Regeneration,"  "  Justification," 
"  Adoption,"  "  Witness  of  the  Spirit,"  and  "  Sanctification  "  as 
the  principal  themes  of  their  pulpit  ministrations.  They  preached 
much  on  the  "Incarnation,"  "Life,"  "Death,"  "  Resurrection," 
and  "Ascension  of  Christ,"  "The  Resurrection  of  the  Human 
Body  from  the  Grave,"  "  The  Dissolution  of  Nature,"  "  General 
Judgment,"  and  the  "  Second  Coming  of  Christ."  These  themes 
embrace  the  cardinal  doctrines  of  Christianity,  and  they  made 
the  Atonement  of  Christ  the  great  central  idea  of  Divine  Rev- 
elation. 

While  Mr.  Pitman  was  stationed  in  Bridgeton  in  the  first 
year  of  his  ministry  in  that  place,  the  aged  and  devoted  mother 
who  taught  him  in  early  childhood  the  way  of  the  Lord,  was 
called  to  the  church  triumphant  in  heaven.  She  who  had  so 
often  prayed  for  him,  and  for  whom  he  had  cherished  such 
grateful  recollections,  was  now  no  more  of  earth.  Her  last 
illness  was  short,  and  her  death  was  quite  sudden,  which  oc- 
curred in  the  first  week  of  September,  1823,  when  she  passed 
peacefully  and  quietly  to  her  heavenly  rest.  The  event  of  her 
death  was  a  sad  dispensation  of  providence  to  Mr.  Pitman,  for 
he  ardently  loved  his  mother. 

On  the  twenty-first  of  October,  the  same  year,  Mr.  Pitman 
was  married  to  Miss  Lucy  Ann  Gillespie,  of  Philadelphia,  Pa., 
who  up  to  the  close  of  his  life  shared  in  the  labors  and  triumphs 
of  his  ministry,  and  who  survived  him  several  years,  but 
long  since  has  joined  him  in  that  world  where  no  sundered 
ties  are  ever  known,  or  sorrows  bow  the  spirit  in  deep  bereave- 
ment and  anguish. 

Mr.  Pitman  was  a  laborious  and  indefatigable  minister  of  the 
gospel,  and  like  the  great  Apostle  to  the  Gentiles,  he  was  in 
labors  more  abundant.  He  preached  the  word,  and  was  "instant 
in  season,  and  out  of  season."  In  this  charge,  as  aforesaid,  he 
preached  over  three  hundred  and  twenty-five  sermons  during 


28  LIFE   OF   REV.    CHARLES   PITMAN,    D.D. 

the  two  years  of  his  ministry,  besides  the  exhortations,  and 
other  religious  and  parochial  duties,  which  he  performed.  His 
labors  were  owned  of  God,  and  abundantly  blessed,  and  over  a 
hundred  were  converted,  so  that  at  the  end  of  his  first  year's 
labor  at  Bridgeton  the  society  numbered  ninety-five  full  mem- 
bers, with  the  addition  of  twenty-eight  received  by  certificate, 
and  one  hundred  and  thirteen  probationers,  making  a  sum  total  of 
two  hundred  and  thirty-six. 

The  second  year's  labor  bore  a  comparatively  favorable  result 
to  the  former  year,  and  with  very  few  exceptions,  were  any  ex- 
pelled or  dropped  from  the  church  records,  so  that  the  church 
more  than  doubled  its  membership  under  his  ministry.  And 
after  deducting  for  removals,  deaths  and  other  losses  there  was 
still  left  an  active  membership  of  two  hundred  and  eleven  per- 
sons at  the  close  of  his  second  year's  labor,  or  ministerial  term. 

Among  the  converts  who  were  received  into  the  church 
during  Mr.  Pitman's  labors  in  Bridgeton,  were  James  Ayars  and 
James  White,  who  both  subsequently  became  honored  and  use- 
ful ministers  of  the  New  Jersey  Conference.  And  among  the 
purchases  made  at  a  subsequent  time  by  the  trustees  of  "  Bridge- 
town" Station,  from  Mr.  Pitman,  was  a  large  Russia  covered 
Bible  for  the  pulpit  of  their  church ;  the  price  paid  for  it  was 
six  dollars,  and  it  was  made  June  27,  1826.  After  he  had 
become  the  Presiding  Elder  of  the  West  Jersey  District,  from 
that  Bible  Charles  Pitman  expounded  the  word  of  life,  and  the 
common  people  heard  it  gladly,  and  through  its  teachings,  hun- 
dreds were  brought  to  God,  and  saved  with  an  everlasting  sal- 
vation. Where  is  the  old  Russia  covered  Bible  that  lay  on 
the  pulpit  of  that  church  sixty-four  years  ago  ? 

No  statement  can  be  more  interesting  to  our  readers  concerning 
the  state  of  Methodism  in  "  Bridgetown,"  at  the  time  when 
Mr.  Pitman  labored  there,  than  that  which  was  given  by  him- 
self. 

In  a  letter,  printed  in  the  Methodist  Magazine,  vol.  viii.,  1825, 


METHODISM   IN   BRIDGETOX.  29 

and  dated  "Bridgetown,"  March  29,  1825,  and  which  has  this 
caption,  "Account  of  the  work  of  God  in  Bridgetown,  N.  J," 
is  the  following : 

"  To  me  the  Magazine  is  generally  both  pleasing  and  profitable ;  but  I 
am  particularly  delighted  with  its  frequent  and  heart-cheering  accounts 
of  revivals  of  religion.  These  are  always  to  my  drooping  spirits  as  good 
news  from  a  far  country ;  and  so  far  as  I  am  acquainted,  they  form,  to 
the  generality  of  its  patrons  the  most  entertaining  and  interesting  part  of 
this  work.  Believing  that  this  may  be  the  case  with  the  most  of  its 
readers,  I  have  thought  the  following  narrative  concerning  the  state  and 
progress  of  religion  in  this  station  may  not,  perhaps,  be  entirely  unin- 
teresting. Should  your  views  accord  with  mine  in  this  respect,  you  are 
at  liberty  to  give  it  an  insertion. 

"  It  is  now  nearly  two  years  since  I  commenced  my  labors  in  this  place. 
At  that  time  the  state  of  religion  might  have  been  considered  rather 
unprosperous  than  otherwise;  this  was  owing  partly  to  the  disorderly 
walk  and  unfaithfulness  of  some  of  the  members  of  society  and  partly, 
perhaps  to  the  want  of  a  more  regular  and  constant  supply  of  the  Word. 
To  remedy  this  latter  defect,  the  society  had  requested  to  be  set  off  as  a 
station,  and  obtained  their  request.  As  to  the  propriety  of  this  measure  it 
is  not  for  me  to  determine ;  but  that  it  originated  from  purity  of  motive, 
I  think  ought  not  to  be  doubted.  For  while  they  sent  one  petition  to 
the  Conference  desiring  a  station,  they  (as  all  our  charges  ought  to  do) 
sent  many  to  heaven  for  a  suitable  man  to  fill  it. 

"  Though  at  that  time  in  some  of  our  members,  the  want  of  a  deep 
spirituality  and  burning  zeal  for  the  glory  of  God  was  much  to  be 
lamented ;  yet  blessed  be  God,  there  were  a  faithful  few  among  us,  who 
were  '  earnestly  contending  for  the  faith  once  delivered  unto  the  saints.' 
These  were  always  ready  to  unite  in  any  measure  calculated  to  promote 
the  interest  of  the  Redeemer's  kingdom.  Indeed,  there  are  always  the 
'Aarons  '  and  '  Hurs,'  who  bear  up  the  sinking  hands  of  God's  ministers 
in  the  time  of  their  sorest  trials  and  severest  spiritual  conflicts.  To  the 
pious  zeal,  sympathy,  deportment  and  fervent  prayers  of  these,  who  had 
ceased  not  to  cry  day  and  night,  'that  the  salvation  of  God  might  go 
forth  as  a  lamp  that  burneth,'  is  doubtless  to  be  attributed,  under  God, 
the  more  than  anticipated  success  of  the  gospel  in  this  place  during  the 
last  two  conference  years.  Our  counsels,  our  prayers,  and  all  our  ener- 
gies were  for  the  advancement  of  truth  in  the  salvation  of  souls.  In  the 
morning  we  sowed  our  seed,  and  in  the  evening  we  withheld  not  our 


30  LIFE   OF   REV.   CHARLES   PITMAN,   D.D. 

hand,  while  the  constant  cry  of  our  hearts  was,  '  Oh,  Lord,  1  beseech 
Thee,  send  now  prosperity.' 

"  It  is  a  matter  of  grateful  acknowledgement  to  us,  that  our  concen- 
trated efforts  and  labors  have  not  been  in  vain  in  the  Lord.  It  was  not 
long  before  there  appeared  to  be  a  general  quickening  throughout  the 
society.  Prayer-meetings  and  class-meetings,  though  hitherto  much 
neglected,  were  now  not  only  well-attended,  but  lively  and  profitable. 
It  seemed  to  be  the  general  impression  among  us,  that '  the  time  to  favor 
Zion  had  come.'  The  success  of  the  word  preached  was  seen  in  the  almost 
breathless  attention,  flowing  tears  and  expressive  countenances  of  our 
numerous  congregation.  All  this,  however,  was  only  the  prelude  of  that 
gracious  work  which  the  Lord  has  since  wrought.  We  had  scarcely  be- 
come organized  as  a  station  before  we  found  our  grace  advancing,  and 
our  spiritual  borders  enlarging.  Old  professors  shook  off  their  spiritual 
apathy,  careless  sinners  became  alarmed,  while  anxious  penitents  re- 
joiced in  God's  forgiving  love. 

"  To  express  much  in  a  few  words  I  think  it  may  safely  be  said,  that 
during  this  gracious  visitation,  the  influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit  have 
been  abundantly  realized  in  all  their  diversity  of  operation.  The  whole 
number  received  on  probation  since  the  commencement  of  this  revival 
amounts  to  nearly  one  hundred,  most  of  whom  have  been  admitted  into 
full  membership.  As  is  usual  in  such  cases,  we  have  found  it  necessary 
to  drop  a  few,  but  the  number  is  small.  The  larger  part  of  them  con- 
tinue to  distinguish  themselves,  as  ornaments  to  their  profession  by 
Christian  fidelity  and  perseverance. 

"  This  gracious  work  has  not  so  much  resembled  a  sudden  and  violent 
tempest,  as  the  soft  and  fertilizing  shower ;  not  so  much  an  inundating 
torrent  which  soon  subsides,  as  the  steady  and  long-continued  rain.  It 
is  true,  at  different  times  during  its  progress1,  the  overwhelming  power 
of  God  has  been  manifested  in  our  assemblies  to  such  an  extent  that  few 
were  able  to  conceal  their  emotions,  while  all  were  awed  into  the  deepest 
reverence.  In  general,  however,  the  work  appears  to  have  been  carried 
on  by  a  steady  and  gradual  process ;  but,  in  our  opinion,  not  the  less 
effectually  on  that  account.  It  is  the  sole  prerogative  of  God  to  regen- 
erate souls;  and  this  he  always  .does  in  his  own  way.  A  few  have  had  a 
very  sudden  transition  from  a  state  of  spiritual  alienation  to  that  of 
reconciliation  and  peace,  while  many  others  have  arrived  at  it  by  less 
perceptible  degrees. 

"  In  the  promotion  of  this  blessed  work,  the  gospel  of  God  our  Saviour 
has  been  the  principal  instrument;  but  it  is  readily  acknowledged  that 
the  various  means  of  grace  generally  adopted  by  our  church  have  been 


METHODISM   IN   BRIDGETON  31 

powerful  auxiliaries.  The  doctrines  which  have  been  uniformly  incul- 
cated and  enforced,  are  those  which  have  been  handed  down  to  us  from 
the  venerable  founder  of  Methodism.  The  principal  of  these  are  the 
entire  corruption,  by  nature,  of  the  human  heart ;  the  atonement  made  by 
Jesus  Christ,  as  embracing  the  whole  human  family  •  the  sufficiency  of 
the  Holy  Spirit's  influences  to  capacitate  every  man  to  obey  the  gospel 
call ;  with  the  necessity  of  deep  repentance,  unfeigned  faith,  and  experi- 
mental and  practical  holiness. 

"  In  addition  to  those  instituted  means  in  general  use  in  our  societies* 
we  have  had  a  regular  general  class-meeting  on  the  first  Sabbath  of  every 
month.  On  these  occasions,  and  at  our  love-feasts,  only,  we  have  re- 
ceived probationers  and  admitted  members.  These  seasons  have  been 
peculiarly  owned  and  blessed  of  God ;  both  in  connecting  the  bonds  of 
union  betwixt  the  different  classes,  and  in  deepening  the  work  of  grace 
in  the  hearts  of  true  believers.  The  formalities  used  in  taking  persons 
under  our  fostering  care,  have  never  failed  to  produce  beneficial  results. 
By  this  course,  an  importance  and  solemnity  are  attached  to  the  admis- 
sion of  members,  which  I  think  have  been  too  much  disregarded ;  and  be- 
sides this,  the  responsibility  connected  with  the  reception  of  members  is 
divided,  as  it  ought  to  be  between  the  preacher  and  his  charge. 

"The  subjects  of  this  reformation  have  been  of  different  ages,  from 
sixty  years  down  to  thirteen ;  of  different  characters,  including  both  the 
pharisaic  moralist  and  the  openly  profane ;  and  of  different  circumstances, 
making  the  man  of  property  poor  that  he  might  become  rich,  and  the 
man  of  poverty  rich  that  he  might  cheerfully  submit  to  his  lot.  During 
the  progress  of  this  gracious  work,  many  anxious  parents  have  seen  their 
prodigal  sons  and  daughters  coming  home  to  God.  Husbands  and  wives 
have  had  their  matrimonial  attachments  strengthened  and  purified  by  the 
effectual  operation  of  spiritual  influence.  And  in  some  few  instances,  our 
eyes  have  overflowed  with  tears  of  joy  on  seeing  pious  sons  and  daughters 
rejoicing  over  their  much-loved  parents,  who  had  been  brought  in  at  the 
eleventh  hour.  '  Hallelujah !  the  Lord  reigneth ;  let  all  the  people 
praise  him ! '  Surely,  the  recollection  of  these  precious  seasons  will  be 
sweet,  even  in  heaven. 

"This  work  has  been  mostly,  if  not  entirely,  confined  to  our  society. 
There  are  two  other  churches  in  this  place — a  Presbyterian  and  Baptist 
— but  their  increase,  of  late,  has  been  quite  inconsiderable.  They  have 
not  reaped  much  harvest  from  their  own  labors,  and  what  is  remarkable 
in  these  days,  they  have  not  shared  largely  in  ours.  It  is  said  that  an 
addition  is  shortly  expected  to  one  of  these  denominations,  but  this  is  all 
the  evidence  we  have  of  any  revival  among  them.  Strong  efforts  have 


32  LIFE   OF   REV.   CHARLES   PITMAN,    D.D. 

lately  been  made  by  them  to  proselyte ;  and,  as  a  number  have  been 
awakened  among  us  who  have  not  joined  our  society,  and  who  are  un- 
willing to  deny  themselves,  and  suffer  reproach  for  Christ's  sake,  I  think 
it  probable  some  of  them  may  seek  a  resting-place  where  sin  is  made  a 
necessary  evil,  and  Christian  perfection  ridiculed. 

"  I  make  these  remarks  from  a  full  conviction  that  some  of  the  greatest 
enemies  to  the  doctrine  of  Christian  holiness  are  professors  of  religion. 
Now  that  policy,  which  lowers  the  standard  of  Christianity  to  suit  the 
evil  desires  of  the  human  heart,  which  can  accommodate  itself  to  every 
discrepancy  of  religious  opinion,  for  the  sake  of  proselytism  and  patron- 
age, cannot  be  of  God.  Deceptive  in  its  nature,  and  dangerous  in  its 
tendency,  it  deserves  to  be  reprobated  by  all  the  wise  and  good.  May 
the  happy  influences  of  an  impartial  and  holy  gospel  continue  to  spread, 
and  to  be  realized  until  the  high  praises  of  our  '  Immanuel '  shall  be 
sung  from  the  rivers  to  the  ends  of  the  earth !  Amen. 

C.  PITMAN." 

In  the  year  1825  Mr.  Pitman  was  stationed  at  St.  George's,  in 
the  city  of  Philadelphia,  Pa.  The  Charge,  or  Circuit,  then  con- 
sisted of  four  churches :  "  St.  George's,"  "  Ebenezer,"  "  Salem," 
and  "  Nazareth,"  and  Rev.  William  Barnes  and  Rev.  Joseph 
Holdich  were  his  colleagues.  Mr.  Pitman  was  preacher-in- 
charge,  and  Mr.  Holdich  lived  with  him,  and  to  the  residence  of 
Mr.  Pitman  came  Rev.  George  G.  Cookman  to  board  when  he 
first  arrived  from  England  in  this  country,  he  having  had  some 
previous  acquaintance  with  Rev.  Mr.  Holdich.  The  trio  were 
formidable  foes  to  sin,  and  a  strong  and  heroic  champion  force 
for  Methodism,  and  when  Cookman  joined  them  and  began  to 
preach,  things  moved  iii  Philadelphia  as  never  before  that  time. 
Mr.  Cookman  joined  St.  George's  Church,  under  Mr.  Pitman, 
as  a  local  preacher,  and  at  once  began  preaching  with  great  ac- 
ceptance and  popularity.  Of  him  we  shall,  hereafter,  have  occa- 
sion to  speak. 

The  following  incident  will  explain  how  Mr.  Cookman  came 
to  find  his  way  to  St.  George's  Church.  It  is  said  that  when 
he  came  over  from  England,  and  first  landed  in  Philadelphia,  he 
walked  along  the  streets  to  find  a  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 


ST.  GEORGE'S,  PHILADELPHIA.  33 

and  when,  nearing  Fourth  and  Arch  Streets,  he  saw  three  elderly 
women,  with  plain  bonnets  and  very  plain  dresses,  walking  up 
Fourth  Street,  he  concluded  that  they  must  be  Methodists,  and 
he  followed  them,  which  attracted  the  attention  of  these  women, 
and  occasioned  not  a  little  discomfort  and  surprise  to  them,  that 
a  stranger  should  be  following  them.  He  was  not  mistaken ; 
they  were  going  to  St.  George's,  and  this  circumstance  led 
him  there,  where  he  found  Rev.  Mr.  Holdich,  who  was  one 
of  the  preachers,  and  with  whom  he  had  been  acquainted  in 
England,  and  Mr.  Cookman  found  hospitable  entertainment 
with  Mr.  Holdich  at  the  home  of  Mr.  Pitman.  When  Mr.  Cook- 
man related  this  incident,  as  he  did  soon  after  to  the  congregation 
at  St.  George's,  these  elderly  women  felt  quite  rejoiced  to  think 
that  they  had  been  instrumental  in  leading  Mr.  Cookman  to  St. 
George's,  who  immediately  became  a  member  and  local  preacher 
in  that  church,  and,  subsequently,  its  pastor. 

On  one  occasion  Mr.  Pitman  was  preaching  at  St.  George's 
Church.  "  He  took  for  his  text  Psa.126  :  6th  verse.  Towards  the 
close  of  the  sermon  the  preacher  melted  into  extreme  tenderness, 
burst  into  tears,  and,  turning  round,  he  kneltdown  in  the  pulpit 
and  wept  profusely.  The  whole  congregation  sympathized  with 
him,  and  a  general  commotion  prevailed.  Mr.  Cookman,  who 
was  present,  caught  the  contagion,  and,  jumping  up  into  the 
pulpit,  waved  his  hand  above  his  head  and  shouted  at  the  top  of 
his  voice,  '  Harvest  home !  harvest  home ! '  Those  who  were 
acquainted  at  all  with  St.  George's  Church,  that  bee-hive  of 
Methodism  in  Philadelphia,  may  imagine  the  furor  that  fol- 
lowed. It  beggared  all  description,  and  we  leave  the  scene  to  the 
imagination  of  the  reader."  * 

This  year  was  one  of  laborious  work  for  Mr.  Pitman  and  his 
colleagues;  the  revival  flame  spread  through  all  the  churches, 
and  peveral  hundred  were  converted ;  and  so  greatly  did  the 
membership  increase,  that,  shortly  after,  the  city  circuit  was  di- 

*  Eev.  Joseph  Holdich,  D.D.,  Christian  Advocate. 


34  LIFE   OF  REV.    CHARLES   PITMAN,   D.D. 

vided  into  stations.  Mr.  Pitman's  popularity  so  increased, 
and  his  fame  became  so  wide-spread,  as  to  indicate  other  and 
more  enlarged  fields  of  labor  than  a  city  circuit  or  charge,  in 
consequence  of  which,  he  remained  in  the  city  only  one  year, 
and  at  the  succeeding  Annual  Conference,  in  1826,  when  just  a 
little  past  thirty  years  of  age,  and  only  eight  years  in  the  minis- 
try, he  was  appointed  Presiding  Elder,  by  Bishop  McKendree, 
of  the  West  Jersey  District,  Philadelphia  Conference. 

Rev.  Charles  H.  Whitecar,  D.D.,  of  the  New  Jersey  Confer- 
ence, who  was  converted  at  the  historic  Blackwoodtown  camp- 
meeting  in  1825,  joined  St.  George's  Church  at  this  time,  under 
Mr.  Pitman's  administration  and  pastorate,  subsequently  was 
licensed  to  exhort  under  Mr.  Cookman,  when  preacher-in- 
charge  at  St.  George's,  was  licensed  to  preach  in  1835,  when 
Henry  White  was  preacher-in-charge  and  John  Potts  Presiding 
Elder,  and  was  sent  out  to  preach  from  St.  George's  towards  the 
close  of  that  year,  with  Rev.  Sedgewick  Rusling  as  colleague, 
on  Warren  Circuit,  N.  J.,  of  which  district  Manning  Force  was 
Presiding  Elder. 

There  was  a  class  of  young  preachers  formed  at  St.  George's, 
under  Mr.  Cookman,  which  consisted  of  Rev.  John  McClintock, 
Rev.  John  L.  Gilder  and  Rev.  Charles  H.  Whitecar,  who,  in 
after  years,  became  eminent  itinerant  ministers  in  connection 
with  the  regular  Conference  work,  and  each  of  them  have  been 
distinguished  by  grand  ministerial  and  literary  pre-eminence. 


CHAPTER  III. 

MR.    PITMAN   AS   PRESIDING   ELDER  OF  THE   WEST   JERSEY 

DISTRICT. 

THE  West  Jersey  District  embraced,  at  the  time  of  Mr.  Pit- 
man's appointment  to  it  as  Presiding  Elder  (April,  1826), 
all  of  Southern  New  Jersey  up  to  the  northerly  line  of  Mercer 
County,  excepting  Trenton  Circuit,  north  of  Trenton  and  a 
part  of  Middlesex  County,  and  included  the  following  stations 
and  circuits,  with  the  names  of  the  preachers  stationed  thereat : 

Burlington — G.  Woolley,  Robert  Gerry. 

Trenton  and  Bloomsburg — William  Thatcher. 

Freehold — John  Findley,  James  McLaurin. 

New  Mitts — Waters  Burroughs,  Daniel  Fidler,  Joseph  Osbone,  Sup. 

Gloucester — John  Woolston,  Eliphalet  Reed. 

Cumberland — William  Williams,  William  Lummis. 

"  Bridgetown  " — John  Potts. 

Salem  Circuit—Solomon  Sharp,  Thomas  Davis. 

Salem  Station — John  Ledmun,  Thomas  Ware,  Sup. 

Juliastown — James  Campbell,  Sup. 

Mount  Holly — Jacob  Egbert,  Sup. 

Egg  Harbor — Nathan  Swain. 

At  this  time  in  the  history  of  New  Jersey  there  were  no  pub- 
lic conveyances  of  travel  in  the  lower  part  of  the  State,  except 
the  old-fashioned  stage-coaches,  which  generally  took  a  full  day 
to  come  from  the  interior  or  sea-coast  to  Philadelphia,  and 
would  make  the  return  trip  the  next  day,  or  the  day  after. 
The  stage-coach  afforded  but  little,  if  any,  facilities  for  a  Pre- 
siding Elder  in  those  times  to  reach  his  appointments,  and  the 
only  feasible  plan  for  him  was  to  travel,  like  the  other  itinerants, 
with  his  own  private  conveyance.  This  he  did  ;  often  leaving 

35 


36  LIFE   OF   REV.    CHAELES   PITMAN,    D.D. 

his  home  in  Burlington,  and  being  gone  from  three  to  four 
weeks  at  a  time,  traveling  from  appointment  to  appointment, 
laboring  at  camp-meetings  in  the  summer  time  and  revival 
meetings  through  the  winter,  besides  attending  to  his  quarterly 
meetings,  and  quarterly  conferences. 

Mr.  Pitman  did  not  relinquish  book-selling,  or  "  keeping  the 
societies  and  preachers  well  supplied  with  books "  after  he  be- 
came Presiding  Elder.  From  his  record  we  gather  these  facts, 
that  there  was  due  him,  at  the  close  of  the  first  year's  labor  in 
the  district  from  the  preachers  and  people  for  books,  $224.14. 
And  other  years  indicate  the  same  desire  and  effort  on  his  part 
to  disseminate  religious  knowledge  among  both  preachers  and 
people.  Book-stores  were  but  few  at  that  time,  and  the  facilities 
and  opportunities  for  procuring  books,  as  well  as  the  limited 
supply,  rendered  it  difficult  for  the  preachers  and  people  to 
procure  them ;  and  so  the  Presiding  Elder's  carriage  became 
an  itinerant  "  Book  Concern."  These  sales  amounted  in  some 
instances  to  over  $300  per  quarter,  and  from  twelve  to  six- 
teen hundred  books  were  sold  yearly,  beside  a  large  number 
of  Conference  Minutes,  Church  Catechisms  and  Hymn  Books. 

Reader !  Think  of  those  times,  when  high  anticipations  filled 
the  hearts  of  our  pious  fathers  and  mothers  of  the  coming  of  the 
Presiding  Elder;  the  quarterly  meeting  the  great  spiritual  feast 
of  the  circuit,  and  that  circuit  covering  the  territory  of  a  mod- 
ern Annual  Conference  District,  while  the  conference  itself  em- 
braced more  territory  than  is  now  included  in  three  or  four  con- 
ferences. 

On  Mr.  Pitman's  arrival  at  his  quarterly  appointment,  and 
after  his  preparatory  meetings  on  Saturday,  he  would  be  busy 
for  an  hour  and  more  in  disposing  to  a  hundred  preachers  and 
friends  a  supply  of  religious  literature  for  their  reading  dur- 
ing the  coming  quarter.  Eager  were  they  to  purchase  these 
books,  and  even  more  so  to  read  and  gather  religious  informa- 
tion. 


OLD   BURLINGTON   CIRCUIT.  37 

While  books,  and  book  purchasers  from  an  itinerant  "  Meth- 
odist Book  Concern/'  may  form  a  matter  of  interest  to  all  who 
have  seen  or  heard  of  Rev.  Charles  Pitman,  it  may  be  a  matter 
of  interest  to  our  readers  to  know  some  of  the  names  of 
those  who  were  the  Officiary  of  the  societies,  which  con- 
stituted the  Methodism  of  New  Jersey  at  this  early  period,  and 
which  form  the  connecting  link  of  the  organization  of  the  church 
in  America,  from  the  times  of  Wesley,  Coke  and  Asbury,  to 
the  present  period. 

On  the  plan  of  the  West  Jersey  District  stands  first  the  name 
of  the  "  Old  Burlington  Circuit,"  rich  with  historic  interest,  and 
sacred  and  venerable  to  the  memory  of  Methodism,  as  being  the 
centre  and  main-spring  of  the  religious  movement  that,  at  that 
time,  sont  the  pulsations  of  a  divine  life  all  through  Southern 
New  Jersey. 

The  plan  and  appointments  of  "  Old  Burlington  Circuit  "  is  no 
meagre  matter  of  interest  to  our  New  Jersey  Methodism  at  this 
date,  and  these  were  :  Burlington,  Sabbath  morning ;  Coopers- 
town  (now  Beverly),  afternoon,  and  Burlington  in  the  evening ; 
Wednesday  evening,  Black  Horse  (now  Columbus)  ;  Mount 
Holly,  Sabbath  morning,  afternoon,  Lumberton  and  Mount 
Holly  in  the  evening ;  Wednesday  evening,  Medford ;  Thurs- 
day afternoon,  Indian  Mills ;  evening,  New  Freedom ;  Saturday, 
Blackwoodtown ;  Sabbath  morning,  Chew's  Landing ;  after- 
noon, Greenland  ;  evening,  Camden  ;  Tuesday  evening,  "  Bro. 
Home's  "  (a  private  house  southeast  of  Merchantville)  ;  Wed- 
nesday evening,  Raccoon  Creek  (now  Bridgeport) ;  Sunday 
morning,  Asbury  ;  afternoon,  Moorestowu,  evening,  Hartford  ; 
and  with  one  or  two  others  along  the  river.  The  preachers 
were  required  to  lead  the  classes  at  each  appointment  after 
preaching,  and  spend  an  evening,  whenever  practicable,  in  hold- 
ing a  general  prayer-meeting  at  each  place  during  the  week 
time. 

Burlington  was  set  off  as  a  station  in  1830,  and  so  also  was 


38  LIFE   OF   REV.   CHARLES   PITMAN,    D.D. 

Mount  Holly,  and  .then  Camden  became  the  head  of  the  Circuit. 
Camden  was  made  a  station  in  the  fall  or  winter  of  1833,  and 
Rev.  William  Granville  was  appointed  preacher  in  charge, 
who  resigned  in  January  following,  and  Rev.  Edward  D. 
Roe,  of  the  Ohio  Conference,  succeeded  him.  The  first  M.  E. 
Church  in  Camden,  was  built  on  a  lot  of  ground  at  the  north- 
west corner  of  Fourth  and  Federal  streets.  In  November,  1809, 
the  frame  was  cut  from  the  pines  which  grew  near  Squankum, 
Monmouth  County,  and  carted  to  Camden.  The  selection  was 
made  from  that  place,  because  choice  and  large  trees  grew  there, 
and  the  frame  was  heavy,  and  the  church  was  built  staunch  and 
firm.  James  Deur  and  John  Petherbridge  were  the  building 
committee,  and  it  was  finished  in  1810,  and  dedicated  by  Rev. 
Joseph  Totton,  Presiding  Elder,  and  the  last  dollar  of  its  in- 
debtedness was  paid  in  1811  to  Jonathan  Goodin,  in  full,  for 
his  services  in  building  it.  The  old  church  was  sold  in  1833  for 
$775,  and  a  new  church  was  erected  on  Third  street,  above 
Bridge  Avenue,  in  1834;  and  when  ready  for  public  worship, 
Mr.  Pitman,  preached  the  first  sermon  from  Isa.  60:  latter 
clause  7th  ver.,  and  Rev.  Mr.  Granville,  preacher  in  charge, 
dedicated  the  church. 

The  quarterly  meetings  on  Burlington  Circuit  have  been 
spoken  of  specially  "  as  times  of  great  joy  and  spiritual  profit 
to  the  society,  and  indeed  to  the  congregation  generally,  when 
such  a  preacher  as  Rev.  Mr.  Pitman  was  Presiding  Elder," 
and  the  powerful  sermons  he  preached  on  these  occasions  crowded 
the  churches,  and  such  was  the  success  that  attended  the  labors 
of  God's  servants,  that  in  a  few  years  after  another  church  was 
built  in  South  Camden,  called  "Union  Church,"  located  on 
Fifth  street,  near  Kaighn's  Avenue,  which  also  was  dedicated  by 
Mr.  Pitman,  on  which  occasion  he  preached  from  Psa.  126:  6. 
The  names  of  the  officiary  of  Burlington  Circuit,  as  it  was  then 
called,  before  being  made  into  a  separate  station  (and  we  insert 
them  here  to  preserve  them  from  that  oblivious  wave  whose 


TRENTON  STATION   AND   ITS  OFFICIARY.  39 

omnipotent  roll  is  so  fast  burying  beneath  its  surge  the  religious 
history  of  our  fathers),  were :  Thomas  Luxton  and  Andrew  S. 
Chew,  Local  Preachers ;  John  D.  Beck,  Clayton  Monroe,  Isaiah 
Toy,  James  Duer,  John  W.  Sterling,  Andrew  Jenkins,  Benja- 
min Y.  Thackerry,  William  Cheesman,  Biley  Barret,  Joseph 
Lypsett,  Hugh  McCurdy,  John  P.  Curtis,  Joseph  W.  Atkinson, 
Henry  F.  Cattell  and  George  Home  were  the  Exhorters,  and 
several  of  these  were  also  Class  Leaders ;  and  Omar  Jackson, 
Samuel  Stockton,  Reuben  Gaunt,  James  Styles,  Joseph  Estlack, 
Brittain  Ayars,  Ezra  Vandergrief,  John  Thackaberry,  Chris- 
topher Sickler,  James  Rogers,  Benjamin  North,  and  Noah  Lip- 
pincott,  were  the  Class  Leaders ;  William  N.  Shinn,  John  W. 
Sterling,  Isaiah  Toy,  Edward  Dougherty  and  James  Rogers 
were  the  Stewards.  The  first  quarterly  meeting  over  which 
Mr.  Pitman  presided,  as  Presiding  Elder  of  West  Jersey  Dis- 
trict, was  held  at  Burlington,  May  13th  and  14th,  1826. 

The  next,  in  the  order  of  the  plan,  comes  Trenton  Station,  and 
the  first-named  is  Jacob  Hevener,  a  local  elder,  who  afterwards 
entered  the  itinerant  traveling  connection,  and  labored  with 
marked  revival  success  in  Sussex  and  Warren  Counties,  of  the 
State  of  New  Jersey.  He  was  a  son  of  thunder,  and  preached 
the  terrors  of  the  law  with  marvellous  effect.  Hundreds,  and 
even  thousands,  it  has  been  said,  were  converted  under  his  min- 
istry. As  the  infirmities  of  life  pressed  upon  him,  he  retired 
from  active  work,  and  went  down  quietly  and  almost  unob- 
served to  his  grave.  Following  this  name  are  those  of  John  E. 
Bellijeaw,  Joseph  A.  Yard,  Samuel  B.  Scattergood,  Joseph  Ash- 
ton,  Charles  Sutterly,  Joshua  Galbraith,  William  R.  Howel, 
Thomas  Fleming,  Hiram  R.  Harrold,  John  Williams,  Bernard 
B.  Doty  and  James  Kilpatrick,  who  constituted  the  Leaders, 
and  several  of  them  were  also  Exhorters,  on  the  district ;  and 
Daniel  Fenton,  Richard  Bond  and  John  E.  Bellijeaw  were  the 
Stewards. 

The  next  on  the  plan  is  Freehold  Circuit,  and  from  the  best 


40  LIFE   OF   REV.   CHAELES   PITMAN,    D.D. 

information  we  can  gather  of  its  dimensions,  it  must  have  em- 
braced all  of  Monmouth  County,  N.  J.,  and  portions  of  Burling- 
ton and  Ocean  Counties.  The  societies  were  considerably  scat- 
tered, and  many  of  them  feeble  in  numbers,  but  they  were  good, 
strong,  earnest  men,  full  of  faith  and  the  Holy  Ghost.  This 
Circuit  contained  an  appointment  which  has  both  special  and 
great  historic  interest,  and  had  for  nearly  a  half-century  been 
known  for  the  devotional  energy  of  its  members ;  and  though 
modern  and  refined  etiquette  would  obliterate  the  caricature  given 
in  olden  time  to  this  place  of  worship,  yet  the  cognomen  of  the 
fathers  has  been  handed  down  to  their  children,  even  to  the  third 
and  fourth  generations ;  and  nearly  every  Methodist  in  Mon- 
mouth County  knows,  or  has  heard  of  "Screaming  Hill." 
Mighty  men  of  God  have  wielded  the  sword  of  divine  truth  in 
that  old  church,  which  was  removed  only  a  few  years  ago  to  give 
place  to  a  new  one,  and  the  slain  of  the  Lord  have  been  counted 
by  hundreds.  The  ministers  in  those  days  "  preached  the  word," 
and  they  preached  the  doctrines  of  the  gospel,  and  the  people 
were  awakened  under  their  powerful  presentations  of  divine 
truth,  and  were  soundly  converted  to  God.  They  cried  aloud 
and  spared  not,  and  sinners  were  convicted  of  their  sins,  and 
multitudes  were  heard  to  exclaim,  "What  must  I  do  to  be 
saved?"  Some  of  the  greatest  revivals  ever  known  in  New 
Jersey  have  taken  place  at  this  appointment. 

The  following  incident  well  illustrates  the  character  of  the 
preaching,  and  the  spirit  with  which  our  fathers  worshipped  in 
this  mountain  of  holiness,  which  was  so  beautiful  for  situation, 
and  was  the  joy  of  all  the  people  surrounding  it.  When  Eze- 
kiel  Cooper  was  Presiding  Elder  of  what  was  at  that  time  (1825) 
known  as  West  Jersey  District,  one  of  his  first  Quarterly  Meet- 
ings was  held  in  this  church,  and  as  the  popularity  and  fame  of 
this  great  apostle  of  Methodism  had  preceded  him,  on  the  day 
of  the  Quarterly  Meeting  a  large  concourse  of  people  from  vil- 
lages and  roadside,  remote  and  near,  assembled  at  "  Screaming 


EZEKIEL  COOPER  AND   BIB  QUARTERLY  MEETING.        41 

Hill"  to  enjoy  this  quarterly  feast,  and  to  many  of  them  it  was 
a  yearly  feast,  as  the  plan  of  the  quarterly  appointments  dis- 
tributed these  occasions  in  other  parts  of  the  circuit.  Mr.  Cooper 
on  this  occasion  preached  from  Acts  iii.  19  :  "  Repent  ye,  there- 
fore, and  be  converted,  that  your  sins  may  be  blotted  out,  when 
the  times  of  refreshing  shall  come  from  the  presence  of  the 
Lord."  The  gospel  trumpet  in  the  hands  of  Ezekiel  Cooper 
never  gave  an  uncertain  sound,  and  the  Lord's  host  knew  what 
was  their  duty  in  preparing  themselves  for  the  battle  long  before 
the  discourse  (which  often  extended  beyond  an  hour)  was  ended. 
The  indications  of  a  Quarterly  Meeting  revival  would  be  mani- 
fest at  the  close  of  the  sermon,  a  prayer-meeting  would  be  held, 
and  several  would  be  converted.  The  services  often  continued 
throughout  the  day  and  evening  with  glorious  results,  and  some- 
times a  revival  followed.  The  next  time  Mr.  Cooper  came  on 
his  quarterly  visit  to  this  place  he  selected  the  same  theme,  and 
chose  the  same  text,  and  preached  the  same  doctrine,  viz.,  "  Re- 
pentance," with  somewhat  similar  results.  Old  Father  Emley, 
long  an  honored  class-leader  and  official  member  of  that  church, 
thinking  that  Brother  Cooper  might  have  forgotten  himself,  and 
the  people  grown  tired  of  the  repetition  of  the  same  theme,  ac- 
costed Mr.  Cooper,  saying  :  "  Brother  Cooper,  have  you  not  got 
something  else  to  give  us,  when  you  come  round  again  to  our 
appointment,  beside  repentance?  this  is  twice  in  succession  you 
have  preached  from  that  text  in  this  place,  and  I  think  we  ought 
to  have  something  new."  Brother  Cooper  was  a  man  for  any 
emergency  that  an  Infinite  Providence  had  put  under  his  control, 
and  so  nerving  himself  for  an  intelligent  reply,  said  to  Father 
Emley  :  "  Brother,  have  all  the  people  here  repented  and  got 
converted  ?"  To  which  Brother  Emley  replied :  "  No,  sir." 
"Then,"  said  Brother  Cooper,  "we  will  preach  repentance." 
However,  the  next  time  he  came  to  that  place  he  selected  a  dif- 
ferent text.  It  was  frequently  the  case  with  the  fathers  in  Mr. 
Cooper's  time  that  a  half-dozen  texts  of  Scripture  served  as  the 


42  LIFE   OF   REV.   CHARLES   PITMAN,    D.D. 

foundation  of  some  thirty  or  more  sermons,  for  the  entire  round 
of  the  quarterly  visitation,  and  not  unfrequently  the  sermon  was 
very  different  in  matter  and  presentation.  They  varied  their 
plans  and  methods,  but  clung  to  the  doctrine  and  preached  the 
Word. 

The  names  of  the  officiary  of  Freehold  Circuit  were :  John 
Fountain,  local  elder ;  William  Anderson,  local  deacon  ;  and 
John  Martin,  Francis  Martin,  Joseph  Cobart,  Henry  Brinley, 
Jeremiah  Newman,  William  Rogers,  Josiah  Holmes,  John  Lane, 
Ellison  Covert,  John  Goodenough,  James  H.  Joline,  Francis 
Murphy,  James  White  and  Jonathan  Yeoman  were  exhorters, 
while  several  of  the  latter-named  were  also  leaders,  and  David 
Hall,  Josiah  Parker,  Joseph  Newman,  John  Allen,  Abraham 
Herbert,  Michael  Mapps,  William  Parker,  James  Miller,  Samuel 
Bobbins,  Vincent  Messier,  Robert  Gravatt,  Lewis  Miller  and 
Samuel  Throckmorton  were  leaders ;  and  Francis  Murphy, 
Joseph  Parker,  David  Hill,  William  Throckmorton  and  Joseph 
Murphy  were  the  stewards. 

The  next  is  New  Mills  Circuit.  This  was  also  a  large  cir- 
cuit, and  embraced  nearly  all  of  the  eastern  portion  of  Burling- 
ton County,  stretching  along  the  sea-board  from  Barnegat  Bay 
to  Atlantic  City,  or  what  was  then  known  as  Absecon.  While 
traveling  in  the  lower  part  of  Burlington  County,  Mr.  Pitman 
preached  at  one  of  his  quarterly  appointments  from  Rev.  iii.  16  : 
"  So  then  because  thou  art  lukewarm,  and  neither  cold  nor  hot, 
I  will  spue  thee  out  of  my  mouth."  There  was  a  backslider  in 
the  congregation,  who  began  to  grow  uneasy  and  to  realize  his 
terrible  state  as  an  apostate  from  the  fold  and  family  of  God. 
It  seems  that  the  text  had  a  particular  application  to  his  condi- 
tion, and  he  could  not  get  away  from  it ;  it  made  a  deep  impres- 
sion upon  his  mind.  He  went  home  from  the  meeting  under 
the  terrible  accusings  of  a  guilty  conscience,  and  so  great  was 
his  agony,  and  so  terrible  were  the  lashings  of  his  conscience, 
that  he  thought  he  was  going  to  die.  He  sent  for  Mr.  Pitman 


NEW   MILLS   CIRCUIT  AND   ITS   OFFICIARY.  43 

to  come  and  see  him.  Mr.  Pitman  arose  from  his  bed  at  his 
lodgings  and  went  to  see  the  man.  He  found  him  in  the  state 
we  have  described.  The  man  told  him  he  had  been  mad  at  him, 
and  that  he  had  hated  him,  and  his  preaching,  and  all  he  had 
done  in  his  past  life,  but  now  he  felt  that  he  was  a  great  sinner, 
and  if  he  did  not  get  religion  that  night,  he  would  be  in  hell 
before  morning.  Mr.  Pitman  well  understood  the  nature  of  this 
case,  and  he  pointed  him  to  Christ,  and  before  morning  came,  he 
was  converted.  A  gracious  revival  grew  out  of  this  circum- 
stance. He  did  not  die,  but  was  raised  up  from  that  bed  of 
alarm  and  distress,  and  became  a  very  useful  member  of  the 
church,  and  was  remarkable  for  giving  much  money  for  the 
support  of  the  pastor  and  for  the  benevolent  objects  of  the 
church,  and  was  a  man  noted  for  his  piety  and  zeal  for  the  cause 
of  Christ  from  that  time  to  the  day  of  his  death. 

The  names  of  the  official  men  of  this  circuit  were  :  William 
W.  Foulks,  local  elder ;  Hezekiah  Crammer,  John  Bodine, 
Simon  Lucas,  Stacy  Bodine,  Abraham  Woolston,  local  dea- 
cons ;  and  John  Core,  William  Keeler,  local  preachers ;  and 
Anthony  Atwood,  Benajah  Brown,  Ebenezer  Applegate,  William 
W.  Creed,  Samuel  Warner,  Fuller  Horner,  Aaron  Bennett, 
Samuel  Dobbins,  Paul  Potter,  James  Letts,  Isaac  Jenkins,  Job 
Clayton,  Major  Mathew,  John  Tilton,  Jacob  Heisler,  John 
Mulliner,  Joseph  J.  Sleeper,  Joseph  Platt,  Jesse  Bennett,  Samuel 
Weaver,  Joseph  Randolph,  Joel  Haywood,  John  C.  Crammer 
and  Joel  Ilase  were  exhorters,  and  several  of  the  afore-men- 
tioned held  the  office  of  class-leader  in  connection  with  the  office 
of  exhorter;  and  George  Peterson,  John  F.  Budd,  William 
Whitecar,  Thomas  Chamberlain,  Nicholas  Sooy,  Ellis  Adams, 
Stacy  Pettit,  Benjamin  Willis,  Andrew  Fort,  William  Bryan, 
William  Malsbury,  Samuel  Bareford,  Clayton  Githens,  Joseph 
Pohlemus,  Samuel  Golforth  were  the  leaders ;  and  William  W. 
Foulks,  Stacy  Bodine,  Joseph  J.  Sleeper,  Anthony  Atwood,  Isaac 
Jenkins,  Jacob  Egbert  and  Jacob  Heisler  were  the  stewards. 


44  LIFE   OF  REV.   CHARLES  PITMAN,   D.D. 

Mr.  Pitman  always  enjoyed  his  visits  to  this  circuit,  and 
preached  with  wonderful  power  in  the  old  church  at  New 
Mills.  Here  he  had  joined  the  church  in  his  young  manhood, 
and  here  he  was  licensed,  first  as  an  exhorter,  and  then 
as  a  local  preacher,  and  from  this  church  he  went  forth  to 
the  work  of  an  itinerant  minister.  Now  he  came  to  greet  them 
as  their  Presiding  Elder.  They  were  his  old  acquaintances  and 
most  valued  friends.  And  the  church  had  no  cause  to  regret 
conferring  these  offices  and  honors  upon  Charles  Pitman,  for  he 
truly  gave  abundant  evidence  of  his  call  to  the  sacred  office,  and 
his  qualifications  for  the  work  of  the  ministry.  He  was  always 
welcomed  by  a  large  congregation,  and  most  cordially  greeted 
by  the  people,  and  the  occasion  was  one  of  great  spiritual  delight 
and  profit. 

It  may  not  be  uninteresting  to  our  readers  to  give  a  short 
sketch  here  of  early  Methodism  in  New  Jersey,  especially  in 
New  Mills.  When  Captain  Webb,  one  of  Mr.  Wesley's  preachers, 
landed  in  New  York,  his  post  of  duty  was  assigned  him  in 
Philadelphia,  or  along  the  Delaware  on  the  Jersey  side.  To  reach 
Philadelphia,  he  had  to  pass  through  New  Jersey,  and  coming 
to  Trenton  he  halted  for  the  night  and  preached  in  that  place, 
and  there  learning  of  a  flourishing  society  at  New  Mills  some 
twenty  miles  south  of  Trenton,  he  concluded  to  pass  that  way  to 
reach  Burlington.  He  did  so,  and  preached  in  the  evening,  and 
spent  the  next  day  with  the  society  at  New  Mills,  and  the  next 
day  went  to  Burlington  and  preached  there,  and  also  in  other  places 
of  the  province,  while  en  route  from  Burlington  to  Philadelphia. 

Burlington  was  first  settled  in  1677,  five  years  before  Phila- 
delphia, and  the  settlers  penetrated  the  easterly  section  of  New 
Jersey,  during  the  one  hundred  years  or  nearly  that  elapsed  from 
the  first  settlement  of  Burlington,  to  the  first  visit  of  Captain 
Webb,  which  was  as  early  as  1768  or  1769.  Hence  Captain  Webb 
gave  Methodism  its  ecclesiastical  form  under  God  in  New  Jer- 
sey, and  being  stationed  on  duty  in  the  town  of  Burlington  as 


METHODISM   IN   BURLINGTON   AND   NEW   MILLS.  45 

early  as  1770,  he  preached  in  the  market-house,  and  in  the  court- 
house, and  Joseph  Toy,  a  resident  of  Burlington,  was  con- 
verted. "From  this  period  he  considered  himself  bound  to 
devote  his  all  to  the  service  and  glory  of  God,  and  on  the  14th 
day  of  December,  1770,  Captain  Webb  formed  a  small  class  to 
which  he  appointed  Mr.  Toy  leader.  In  1771  Mr.  Toy  moved 
to  Trenton,  where  he  found  a  man  who  had  been  a  Methodist  in 
Ireland.  With  this  man,  and  two  or  three  more,  he  united,  and 
agreeing  among  themselves  they  met  in  class,  and  were  occasion- 
ally supplied  with  preaching,  by  a  preacher  from  Philadelphia, 
until  the  Revolutionary  War,  when,  the  English  preachers  re- 
turning home,  the  people  were  deprived  of  the  word  of  life. 
Notwithstanding  the  smallness  of  their  number,  with  extraordi- 
nary exertion,  they  erected  a  small  frame-house  for  the  worship 
of  God,  where  Mr.  Toy  held  weekly  meetings."  Obituary  of 
Joseph  Toy,  Methodist  Magazine,  1826,  p.  438. 

Burlington  was  the  first  place  in  New  Jersey  where  Mr.  Asbury 
preached.  He  preached  there  within  two  weeks  after  lauding 
in  America,  which  was  on  the  7th  day  of  November,  1771,  and 
while  on  his  way  to  New  York  from  Philadelphia,  passing 
through  Burlington,  he  stopped  and  preached  in  the  court-house 
where  Captain  Webb  had  on  several  occasions  preached  before 
this  time.  A  good  revival  work  is  said  to  have  followed.  They 
built  a  church,  and  opened  it  in  1789.  The  deed  is  made  to 
Bishop  Coke  and  Francis  Asbury  for  a  house  of  worship  to 
Almighty  God.  Hence  the  first  preaching  in  Burlington 
(Asbury's  Journal,  vol.  ii.,  page  55),  was  in  the  year  1769. 

The  Methodist  Society,  in  New  Mills,  was  originated  about 
the  same  time  as  in  Burlington.  It  was  the  strongest  and  most 
prosperous  society  during  the  first  age  of  Methodism  in  the 
State,  numbering  more  members  than  any  other  place;  and  being 
twenty  in  advance  of  Burlington,  its  membership  was  two  hun- 
dred. When  Dr.  Coke  first  visited  the  town  in  the  early  part 
of  1785,  he  remarked  "that  the  place  had  been  favored  with  the 


46  LIFE   OF   REV.    CHARLES   PITMAN,   D.D. 

faithful  ministry  of  Methodists  for  sixteen  years.  From  1785, 
sixteen  years  carries  us  back  to  1769,  which  must  be  fixed  upon 
as  the  true  date  of  Methodist  preaching  in  New  Jersey,  in  both 
Burlington  and  New  Mills. 

The  town  of  New  Mills,  was  laid  out  originally  by  a  Mr. 
Budd,  and  Messrs.  John  and  William  Budd  were  pillars  in  the 
Methodist  Society  in  this  town.  One  of  them  was  a  local 
preacher.  In  1807,  Mr.  Asbury  says:  "I  found  old  grand- 
father Budd,  worshipping,  leaning  upon  the  top  of  his  staff, 
halting  yet  wrestling  like  Jacob."  Many  of  the  Budds  have 
been  in  church  fellowship  with  the  Methodists,  and  a  fair  pro- 
portion of  them  were  superior  preachers. 

Mr.  Daniel  Heisler  joined  the  Methodists,  in  New  Mills,  in 
1773 ;  he  was  a  class-leader,  and  subsequently  he  removed  to 
Maurice  River,  where  he  lived  and  served  the  church  in  that 
capacity  for  twenty-five  years.  Later  he  moved  to  Christiana, 
Del.,  where  he  died  in  the  74th  year  of  his  age,  and  was  buried 
at  Newark,  New  Castle  Co.,  Del. 

Catharine,  daughter  of  Ezekiel  Johnson,  was  the  first  white 
child  born  in  New  Mills  (there  were  some  colored  children  born 
there  before  her).  She  married  one  of  the  first  Methodist 
preachers  in  the  place.  His  name  was  William  Danley,  a  local 
preacher,  who  seems  to  have  been  a  member  of  the  same  society. 
They  moved  to  Port  Elizabeth,  N.  J.  Losing  her  husband,  she 
married  as  her  second  husband,  Mr.  Ketcham,  and  after  his  death, 
she  married  a  Mr.  Long.  After  living  a  Methodist  sixty  years, 
she  departed  this  life  in  the  83d  year  of  her  age. 

In  April,  1773,  the  foundation  of  the  first  Methodist  Chapel 
was  laid  in  New  Jersey,  but  Mr.  Asbury  does  not  tell  where  it 
was.  Some  think  it  was  Bethel,  between  Carpenter's  Landing 
and  Woodbury.  Mr.  Asbury  says,  in  his  journal  vol.  i,  page 
48,  it  was  in  size,  30x35  feet.  The  New  Mills  Church,  or 
Chapel,  which  he  describes  in  vol.  i.,  page  136,  as  being  28x36, 
corresponds  with  the  old  church,  which  is  now  extant  as  a 


HISTORY   OF   METHODISM  IN   NEW   MILLS.  47 

dwelling  in  Pemberton,  (formerly  New  Mills),  and  in  a  good 
state  of  preservation,  though  nearly  a  hundred  and  thirteen  years 
old. 

Mr.  Asbury  says,  "  At  New  Mills  I  found  Bro.  W.  very  busy 
about  his  chapel,  which  is  28x36,  with  a  gallery  fifteen  feet 
deep,  and  though  unfinished,  I  preached  in  it  from  Matt.  vii. 
chap.,  7th  verse,  with  fervor,  but  not  with  freedom,  and  re- 
turned to  W.  B.,  (most  likely  William  Budd's),  Lord's  day 
May  5th,  1776.  I  preached  in  New  Mills  again,  and  it  was  a 
heart-affecting  season."  "  Mr.  Asbury  did  not  visit  this  region 
for  five  years,  when  in  1781,  the  fame  of  Benjamin  Abbott, 
who  had  made  a  famous  preaching  tour  in  Pennsylvania,  led 
him  into  New  Jersey,  to  see  and  hear  this  wonderful  preacher." 
Journal,  vol.  i.,  page  325. 

The  New  Mills  house  was  the  second  chapel,  or  church, 
founded  in  the  State  of  New  Jersey  by  the  Methodists.  It  was 
enclosed  and  partly  finished  in  December,  1773,  but  there 
were  meetings  and  preaching  by  Methodist  preachers  in  New 
Mills  as  early  as  1769,  and  some  history  puts  it,  in  1768. 
The  Rev.  Samuel  Budd,  formerly  of  the  Philadelphia  Con- 
ference, who  located  in  1814,  has  spoken  to  the  author 
of  his  grandfather's  preaching  in  New  Mills  before  As- 
bury's  first  visit  to  the  place,  and  of  a  class  and  society  which 
was  organized  some  five  or  six  years  before  any  attempt  was 
made  to  build  a  church,  and  that  he  held  meetings  in  the 
kitchen  of  the  old  larm-house  on  the  road  leading  to  the 
Friends'  Mount  meeting-house  from  Pemberton.  This  Rev. 
Samuel  Budd,  died  June  27,  1853,  and  was  buried  in  the  Pem- 
berton M.  E.  Church  grave-yard,  and  is  remembered  by  many 
of  the  residents  to  this  day. 


CHAPTEE    IV. 

WEST   JERSEY   DISTRICT   CONTINUED. 

THE  next  circuit  was  generally  known  in  those  days  as 
"  Old  Gloucester  Circuit,"  which  extended  from  Wood- 
bury  to  Cumberland,  and  adjoined  Burlington  on  the  north, 
and  both  the  counties  of  Salem  and  Cumberland  on  the  south. 
It  embraced  a  host  of  earnest  Christian  men  and  women  who 
considered  Methodism  the  grandest  organization  the  world 
had  ever  known  since  Pentecost,  and  that  Mr.  Pitman  was  its 
great  apostle.  There  are  men  and  women  now  living,  of 
whom  the  author  of  this  work  has  had  pastoral  charge,  that 
have  described  to  him  Mr.  Pitman's  quarterly  visits,  the  love- 
feasts  and  the  great  quarterly-meeting  sermons  as  events,  of  which 
the  like  was  never  known  before  in  the  history  of  the  church. 

The  names  of  the  religious  champions  of  Gloucester  Circuit, 
at  the  time  when  Mr.  Pitman  was  Presiding  Elder,  were  Moses 
Crane,  Nathaniel  Chew,  Jephtha  Abbott,  John  Price,  Jacob  Fis- 
ler,  Parker  Cordery,  James  Chester,  Richard  Leeds,  John 
Brown,  John  Turner,  who  were  local  deacons,  and  Thomas 
Cheeseman,  Solomon  Small  wood,  Nathaniel  Chew,  jr.,  Nicholas 
Vansant,  Abel  English,  Samuel  Sharp,  Elisha  Chew,  John 
Sickler,  John  Ashcraft,  who  were  local  preachers,  and  Nehe- 
miah  Blackman,  Benjamin  Fisler,  Daniel  Felton,  John  Spencer, 
James  Price,  Hugh  D.  Smith,  Thomas  Chew,  George  Gardiner, 
Samuel  Fisler,  George  West,  Josiah  Heritage,  Levi  Adams, 
Absalom  Steelman,  "William  Dilks,  Jacob  Fisler,  were  exhorters, 
and  several  of  the  afore-mentioned  were  also  class-leaders,  hold- 
ing the  two  offices  conjointly,  and  William  Porch,  Thomas 
Garwood,  John  Graver,  Robert  Miskelly,  James  Adair,  George 
48 


GLOUCESTER  CIRCUIT   AND   ITS   OFFICIARY.  49 

Peterson,  Andrew  Dilks,  Isaac  Dilks,  Joseph  Fisler,  Aquilla 
Downs,  John  Adams,  Absalom  Cordery,  William  Ireland, 
Thomas  Abbott,  Joseph  Albertson,  Abraham  Park,  William 
Chew,  Benjamin  B.  Doughty,  Hosea  F.  Joslin,  Abner  Gaskill, 
William  Miskelly,  Thomas  Baver,  and  John  Pease  were  leaders. 
The  stewards  were  Nathaniel  Chew,  jr.,  Josiah  Heritage,  George 
West,  Nehemiah  Blackman,  Thomas  Garwood,  John  Early  and 
William  Porch. 

As  the  name  of  Benjamin  B.  Doughty  appears  in  the  above 
list,  it  may  not  be  uninteresting  to  our  readers,  both  as  a  matter 
of  history  and  as  a  record  of  the  valuable  services  of  a  good 
man,  who  was  great  in  goodness,  and  who,  being  greatly  good, 
was  a  happy  Christian,  that  we  record  this  tribute  to  his  mem- 
ory and  his  life-long  service  to  the  church,  and  insert  it  here,  as  a 
testimonial  to  the  last  link  that  bound  the  past  with  the  present 
(he  being  the  last  surviving  member  of  the  officiary  that  composed 
the  Quarterly  Conference  of  old  Gloucester  Circuit,  under  Mf. 
Pitman's  administration  as  Presiding  Elder,  from  1826  to  1830.) 

Benjamin  B.  Doughty  was  born  March  12th,  1806,  and  died 
at  Pleasant  Mills,  N.  J.,  April  7th,  1886.  In  his  nineteenth 
year  he  gave  his  heart  to  God  under  the  labors  of  Rev.  Charles 
Pitman,  and  joined  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  from 
that  period  to  the  close  of  his  earthly  career,  his'pilgrimage  and 
pathway  was  like  that  which  is  described  by  the  Patriarch  Job> 
as  a  "shining  light  which  shineth  more  and  more  unto  the  per- 
fect day."  Being  possessed  of  a  frail  constitution,  and  often  a 
prey  to  disease,  he  was  the  subject  of  much  affliction,  but  always 
was  cheerful  in  the  happy  assurance  of  his  hope  of  immortality 
and  eternal  life.  In  all  his  afflictions  and  trials  his  faith  failed 
not,  but  maintained  a  firm  and  constant  hold  upon  God.  His 
Christian  life  comprised  a  period  of  over  sixty  years,  in  which 
time  he  filled  consecutively  the  offices  of  class-leader,  Sunday- 
school  superintendent,  steward  and  trustee  of  the  Church  for 
more  than  fifty-five  years. 
4 


50  LIFE   OF   REV.   CHARLES   PITMAN,    D.D. 

He  was  of  a  meek  and  gentle  spirit,  calm  and  modest  in  the 
discharge  of  his  duty,  and  always  could  be  relied  upon,  whenever 
duty  or  conviction  required  firmness  and  principle.  His  whole 
Christian  life  was  one  of  earnest  effort,  to  build  up  and  maintain 
the  church  with  which  he  was  connected,  it  being  one  of  the 
oldest  land-marks  of  Methodism  in  New  Jersey,  where  the 
now-sainted  Asbury,  Abbott  and  Pitman  used  to  preach  the 
gospel  "in  demonstration  of  the  Spirit,  and  of  power."  He 
had  a  profound  reverence  for  the  place,  and  always  enjoyed  its 
services,  which  to  him  had  presented  both  scenes  of  great  historic 
interest  and  wonderful  spiritual  power.  For  fidelity  to  the 
church,  for  consistency  in  Christian  life,  and  for  faithfulness  in 
the  discharge  of  his  religious  duties,  none  have  surpassed,  and 
few  have  equalled,  Benjamin  B.  Doughty.  rJ?he  author  of  this 
volume,  under  a  promise  made  to  him  more  than  twenty-three 
years  ago,  and  subsequently  renewed  at  a  family  gathering 
(Christmas  day,  1885),  preached  his  funeral  sermon  on. Sabbath, 
April  llth,  1886,  from  a  passage  of  Scripture  selected  by  him- 
self, recorded  in  2  Tim.  iv.,  6-8,  to  a  large  and  appreciative 
congregation  of  relatives  and  friends,  after  which  his  mortal 
remains  were  committed  to  their  last  resting-place  in  the  church- 
yard at  Pleasant  Mills,  where  sleep  in  blessed  hope  hundreds 
who,  through  his  instrumentality,  had  been  led  to  Christ,  to 
await  with  them  the  resurrection  of  the  just.  It  was  estimated 
that  nearly  seven  hundred  persons  attended  his  funeral,  and  fol- 
lowed his  remains  to  their  final  resting-place.  He  was  a  good 
man,  and  full  of  faith  and  the  Holy  Ghost, — a  bright  example 
of  Christian  purity,  a  sincere  and  benevolent  Christian  brother, 
with  a  heart  all  aglow  with  the  love  of  God,  and  a  home  with  a 
door  always  open  to  welcome  the  itinerant  minister  of  the  gospel 
to  his  hospitality.  He  died  in  great  peace,  and  with  a  glorious 
hope  of  being  soon  at  the  right  hand  of  God. 

Pleasant  Mills  church,  is  one  of  the  oldest  land-marks  of 
Methodism  in  New  Jersey.  It  is  located  on  the  dividing  line 


PLEASANT   MILLS,    BATSTO,   AND   THE   RICHARDS.  51 

(the  Mullica  River)  between  Burlington  and  Atlantic  Counties, 
and  is  about  forty  miles  south-east  of  Mount  Holly  and  about 
sixty  miles  south-east  of  Trenton,  N.  J.,  in  the  Pines.  It  is 
near  Batsto,  where  formerly  were  the  great  iron  and  glass  works 
of  the  Richards,  which  has  important  Revolutionary  fame.  At 
Batsto,  when  manufacturing  interests  were  in  a  prosperous  con- 
dition, large  numbers  of  people  were  employed,  which  necessitated 
the  building  of  a  church.  The  ground  (four  acres)  was  donated 
by  Mrs.  Richards  for  church  and  burial  purposes,  and  a  church 
was  erected  thereon  for  the  Methodist  preachers  to  occupy,  and 
preach  the  gospel  and  hold  their  meetings  therein,  and  when  not 
occupied  by  them,  other  evangelical  ministers  might  preach  there. 
"Mother  Richards,"  as  she  was  usually  called,  was  a  whole- 
souled  Methodist,  and  esteemed  Mr.  Pitman  as  one  of  her  best 
friends  and  a  true  servant  of  Christ.  In  her  palatial  mansion, 
with  its  romantic  andcharming  surroundings,  Mr.  Pitman  always 
found  a  cordial  welcome  and  the  most  generous  and  extensive 
hospitality,  and  he  frequently  availed  himself  of  it,  it  being  a 
convenient  resting-place  on  the  line  of  his  travel  from  Burling- 
ton to  Cape  May.  Sometimes  he  would  spend  several  days 
with  his  friends  at  this  place,  and  preach  to  the  people  in  the 
evening.  Mr.  Richards,  though  not  of  the  Methodist  persua- 
sion, was  greatly  interested  in  Mr.  Pitman,  and  it  is  said  he 
esteemed  and  revered  Charles  Pitman,  as  he  did  no  other  man. 

Whenever  quarterly  meeting  came  for  Pleasant  Mills,  it  was 
held  at  this  church,  and  the  people  from  Mount  Holly,  Medford, 
Pemberton,  Vincentown,  Wrightstowu  and  other  contiguous 
places  on  the  west  and  northwest,  and  Green  Bank,  Lower  Bank, 
Bass  River  and  Tuckerton,  on  the  east,  and  Port  Republic,  Ab- 
secon,  Weymouth  and  May's  Landing,  on  the  southeast,  would 
congregate  on  Saturday  evening,  and  when  all  the  places  for  ac- 
commodation were  filled,  would  camp  out  in  the  grove  near  the 
church  to  be  in  readiness  for  the  Sabbath  services. 

Mr.  Pitman  usually  preached,  on  his  quarterly  meeting  occa- 


52  LIFE   OF   REV.   CHARLES   PITMAN,   D.D. 

sions,  on  Saturday  morning,  at  10  o'clock,  and  held  the  quarterly 
Conference  immediately  after  the  service,  and  in  the  evening 
some  one  of  the  preachers  from  another  part  of  the  circuit  would 
preach,  then  all  would  retire  for  their  necessary  rest  and  prepar- 
ation for  the  great  quarterly  meeting  services  of  the  morrow, 
which  opened  with  the  usual  love-feast  at  9  A.M.  and  at  10J  A.M. 
Mr.  Pitman  would  again  preach,  and  sometimes  so  great  would 
be  the  crowd  and  so  large  the  gathering,  that  Mr.  Richards 
would  send  over  his  large,  six-mule  team  open  wagon,  cover  the 
bottom  with  planks,  and  then  place  it  between  the  two  front 
doors  of  the  church,  improvise  a  pulpit,  the  women  and  children 
being  seated  in  the  church,  with  the  doors  and  windows  open, 
and  the  men  standing  outside  around  the  open  wagon,  and  Mr. 
Pitman  standing  upon  the  wagon  would  address  from  two  to 
three  thousand  people,  and  for  an  hour  or  more,  would  offer  life 
and  salvation  to  them  in  strains  and  tones  of  utterance,  that 
seemed  as  musical  as  a  seraph's  voice,  and  as  sweet  as  the  har- 
monies of  the  spirit-land.  The  impression  of  these  occasions 
lived  with  the  people  who  participated  in  them  till  the  close  of 
their  life,  and  not  infrequently  was  it  the  case  that  several,  and 
sometimes  a  score,  would  be  converted  at  these  quarterly  meeting 
occasions. 

The  next  circuit  on  the  plan,  and  following  in  rotation  with 
Gloucester,  is  Cumberland  Circuit,  remembered  formerly  by 
many  of  the  oldest  preachers  and  church  members  as  "Old  Cum- 
berland Circuit ; "  this  was  united  with  the  Cape  May  Circuit, 
and  later  it  was  called  Cumberland  and  Cape  May  Circuits,  and 
embraced  all  the  country  lying  below  Gloucester  Circuit,  from 
"  Great  Egg  Harbor  bay,"  on  the  north,  to  the  county-line, 
between  Cumberland  and  Salem  Counties,  on  the  south,  and 
including  the  sea-board.  Here  was  a  section  of  country 
which  Mr.  Pitman  not  only  visited  on  the  Sabbath  of  his 
quarterly  meeting  appointment,  but  traveled  over  it  during  the 
week,  encouraging  the  preachers,  supplying  them  with  books 


CUMBERLAND   AND   CAPE   MAY   CIRCUITS.  53 

and  giving  general  attention  to  the  work,  and  assisting  iu  reviv- 
als and  camp-meetings,  and  other  general  interests  among  the 
churches,  so  that  quarterly  meeting  became  a  synonym  with  a 
revival  of  religion  with  the  people.  By  this  means  the  people 
of  the  district  became  acquainted  with  him  and  crowded  the 
places  of  his  preaching  services  and  camp-meetings. 

A  brother  described  a  circumstance  which  occurred  in  Mr. 
Pitman's  ministry  thus  (and  to  show  the  effectiveness  of  this  in- 
cident, and  its  wonderful  result,  we  give  the  narrative  and  inci- 
dent in  his  own  language,  he  was  one  of  Mr.  Pitman's  preach- 
ers, and  was  what  might  be  called  an  old-time  preacher  of 
Methodism)  which  Dr.  Chalmers  characterized  as  being  "  Chris- 
tianity in  earnest"  :  "Rev.  Charles  Pitman/'  says  h&,  "  traveled 
as  presiding  elder  over  a  large  circuit  in  the  southern  part  of 
New  Jersey,  which  was  formerly  known  as  'Old  Cape  May 
Circuit,'  which  at  that  time  embraced  the  whole  county."  He 
characterizes  him  as  being  faithful  to  his  calling  and  acting  in 
view  of  his  high  responsibility,  and  further  states  "  that  he  was  a 
plain  preacher,  and  that  he  was  remarkable  for  his  fidelity  and 
faithfulness  in  preaching  God's  word — that  he  never  daubed 
with  untempered  mortar.  He  preached  at  one  of  his  quarterly 
appointments  on  this  circuit,  where  there  was  a  wealthy  man 
who  was  a  member  of  the  church,  but  he  was  a  formalist.  For- 
malism in  those  days  was  considered  one  of  the  greatest  enemies 
and  obstacles  to  vital  godliness  or  spiritual  zeal  that  Methodism 
had  to  contend  with.  In  fact  Methodism  has  always  had  to 
contend  against  formalism,  it  being  the  only  system  of  religious 
faith  that  required  an  experimental  evidence  of  religion  in  the 
soul,  and  an  earnest,  active  piety  in  the  devotions,  and  life  of 
her  membership:-  The  early  Methodist  preachers  were  formid- 
able foes  to  formalism,  lukewarmness,  or  a  mere  semblance  of 
religion.  They  believed  in  experimental  piety,  and  hence  they 
had  to  encounter  great  opposition  in  their  labors,  not  merely 
because  their  animated  and  energetic  mode  of  worship  was,  to 


54  LIFE  OF   REV.   CHARLES  PITMAN,   D.D. 

some  extent  an  innovation  upon  established  customs  or  usages, 
but  because,  in  many  instances,  they  acted  as  an  aggressive 
power  upon  the  territories  of  other  denominations,  and  drew  the 
multitude  and  masses  to  their  congregations  and  fellowship,  and 
thus  became  a  potent  factor  in  spreading  a  revival  flame  all  over 
the  land,  inducing  sinners  to  come  to  Christ,  and  believers  to 
embrace  earnestly  the  precepts  and  teachings  of  revealed  truth, 
and  manifest  it  in  their  lives  and  conduct. 

"  This  man  had  a  name  to  live,  but  was  dead.  He  was  as  a 
whited  sepulchre,  and  his  spirit  was  exerting  a  chilling  and  de- 
structive influence  upon  all  around  him,  and  the  church  in  that 
place  felt  the  paralyzing  influence  of  that  man's  life  and  teach- 
ing. The  "circuit  preachers  were  perplexed,  and  were  in  deep 
trouble  to  k«ow  what  to  do  under  the  circumstances.  The  con- 
dition of  things  was  made  known  to  Mr.  Pitman,  and  at  his  ap- 
pointment that  evening  he  preached  a  very  pointed  and  search- 
ing sermon  from  Rev.  3d  chapter,  16th  verse.  It  shook  the  sandy 
foundation  of  this  worldling,  and  he  was  very  much  chagrined, 
and  took  a  determined  stand  against  Mr.  Pitman,  denouncing 
him  severely  for  his  personalities  and  uncharitable  conduct,  as 
he  termed  them.  He  declared  that  '  he  was  not  fit  to  preach, 
and  that  he  would  not  listen  to  such  nonsense/  and  endeavored 
to  sow  dissensions  and  provoke  prejudice,  in  the  society  against 
Mr.  Pitman.  He  was  left  alone  to  reflect  on  his  course.  Some 
weeks  after  this,  Mr.  Pitman  came  back  to  this  place,  and  with 
his  usual  characteristic  fidelity  and  keen  penetration  of  the  situ- 
ation of  things,  preached  from  Matt.  16th  chapter,  6th  verse: 
'  Beware  of  the  leaven  of  the  Pharisees,  etc.'  He  preached 
against  hypocrisy,  and  showed  why  Christians  should  be- 
ware of  such  leaven.  The  man  was  present,  and  he  became 
still  more  angry  and  bitter  in  his  denunciations  of  Mr.  Pitman. 
The  brethren  became  alarmed,  and  went  to  Mr.  Pitman  and  ex- 
postulated with  him,  they  told  him  that  such  plain  preach- 
ing had  offended  Mr.  A.,  and  that  they  would  like  to  retain  his 


PITMAN'S  POWERFUL  SERMONS  IN  CAPE  MAY.         55 

friendship,  money  and  influence  to  their  church,  and  said  to  Mr. 
Pitman  that  they  wished  he  would  adopt  a  little  different  style 
of  preaching.  Mr.  Pitman  replied  that  he  was  called  of  God  to 
preach  the  gospel ;  that  he  would  like  to  accommodate  their 
wishes  so  far  as  he  could  without  the  sacrifice  of  truth  and  prin- 
ciple, but  he  must  preach  the  gospel  as  God  commanded  him  to 
do  it,  and  not  as  men  desired  it.  He  watched  for  souls  as  one 
who  must  give  an  account,  and  he  dare  not, 

'  Soften  his  word,  or  smooth  his  tongue, 
To  gain  earth's  gilded  toys,' 

or  flee  the  Cross  endured  by  the  Saviour  of  sinful  men.  The 
next  time  he  came  round  that  way,  he  preached  from  2d  Tim, 
3d  chap.,  5th  ver. :  '  Having  the  form  of  godliness/  &c.  It 
was  a  sermon  of  great  power.  Those  who  had  a  mere  form  of 
godliness,  who  had  nearly  the  whole  body  of  Christianity  with- 
out its  soul,  the  form  without  its  power,  the  letter  without  the 
spirit,  those  who  were  destitute  of  the  power,  and  those  who  de- 
nied and  undervalued  it,  or  ridiculed  it,  were  described  with 
great  accuracy ;  their  portraits  were  painted  by  a  master  hand, 
and  then  he  held  them  up  to  the  gaze  of  the  audience.  And 
finally  he  noticed  the  Apostle's  direction  concerning  them : 
'From  such  turn  away.'  'Get  rid  of  them,'  said  he,  'in  some 
way,  and  as  soon  as  possible, — the  sooner  the  better, — better  for 
them,  better  for  the  Church,  better  for  the  world ;  turn  away 
from  them.  First,  if  they  remain  in  the  Church,  it  can  do  them 
no  good,  "  for  they  that  be  whole  need  not  a  physician,  but  they 
that  are  sick."  Second,  they  will  do  injury  if  they  remain ;  like 
a  limb  where  mortification  has  taken  place,  it  must  be  removed, 
or  it  will  injure  the  other  parts  of  the  limb,  and  finally  affect  the 
whole  body." 

This  sermon  destroyed  that  formalist's  sandy  foundation.  It 
took  off  his  fig-leaf  covering.  He  saw  the  deformity  of  his 
moral  features;  he  had  considered  himself  rich  and  increased 


56  LIFE   OF   REV.   CHARLES   PITMAN,    D.D. 

in  this  world's  goods,  and  needed  nothing.  He  did  not  consider 
that  he  was  poor  and  miserable,  and  blind  and  naked.  When 
he  saw  himself  in  this  condition,  he  was  horror-struck  at  his  own 
picture ;  the  barbed  arrow  of  divine  truth  had  pierced  his  heart, 
and  was  rankling  there.  He  went  home  for  a  sleepless  night, 
and  his  pillow  was  wet  with  his  tears.  In  the  morning  he  sent 
for  Mr.  Pitman.  He  wished  him  to  come  and  pray  for  him,  and 
he  confessed  to  his  real  character, — that  he  had  a  name  to  live, 
while  in  heart  he  was  dead  ;  that  he  was  a  professor,  and  not  a 
possessor ;  that  his  name  had  been  on  the  Church  record,  but  not 
written  in  the  Lamb's  Book  of  Life  in  Heaven ;  that  he  had 
been  a  mere  formalist,  a  self-righteous  Pharisee.  His  language 
was: 

"  Oft  did  I  with  the  assembly  join, 

And  near  their  altar  drew ; 

The  form  of  godliness  was  mine, 

The  power  I  never  knew." 

He  now  lamented  his  course,  and  wept  and  sighed  and  prayed  ; 
his  sighs  came  from  the  inner  temple  of  grief.  He  was  sorry 
for  having  grieved  his  God ;  the  tears  he  shed  were  the  bitter 
tears  of  repentance,  and  his  prayers  for  mercy  came  from  his 
inmost  soul,  and  were  heard  by  Him  whose  ear  is  ever  open  to 
the  cry  of  the  penitent,  and  who  hath  declared,  "  But  to  this 
man  will  I  look,  even  to  him  that  is  poor  and  of  a  contrite 
spirit  and  trembleth  at  my  word"  (Isa.  Ixvi.  2).  His  sins  were 
put  upon  the  head  of  the  scapegoat,  and  borne  into  the  wilder- 
ness. The  cloud  that  gathered  over  him  thick  and  dark  was 
removed  by  the  hand  of  mercy,  and  he  looked  up  and  saw  "  a 
reconciled  God  and  a  smiling  Saviour/'  and 

"  He  beheld,  without  a  cloud  between, 
The  Godhead  reconciled." 

God  sent  forth  the  Spirit  of  His  Son  into  his  heart,  crying, 


A  CHURCH  BUILT  AND  DONATED  TO  M.  E.  CHURCH.    57 

"  Abba,  Father,"  and  this  was  to  him  a  joy  unspeakable  and 
full  of  glory. 

To  Mr.  Pitman's  honesty  and  fidelity,  to  his  being  bold  in 
his  denunciations  of  sin,  formality  and  hypocrisy,  to  his 
being  a  valiant  defender  of  the  faith,  this  man  owed  his  salva- 
tion through  Christ.  This  dislike  and  hatred  to  Mr.  Pitman 
was  instantly  changed  into  honor  and  respect  and  love.  He 
honored  him  for  his  fidelity ;  he  respected  him  as  a  man  and  for 
his  superior  talents  as  a  minister ;  he  loved  him  as  the  honored 
instrument  in  the  hands  of  God  of  rescuing  him  from  ruin's 
brink ;  he  loved  him  as  his  spiritual  father. 

The  brother  was  afterwards  very  useful.  He  was  a  pillar  in 
the  church.  Possessing  wealth,  he  poured  it  into  the  treasury  of 
the  Lord.  Often  would  he  place  in  Mr.  Pitman's  hands,  a  hun- 
dred dollars  for  the  poor,  or  for  the  benevolent  causes  of  the 
church,  and  to  Mr.  Pitman  was  accorded  the  privilege  to  dis- 
tribute, as  he  saw  fit  and  proper,  the  money.  He  became  an 
almoner  of  God's  bounties ;  he  considered  himself  a  steward, 
and  he  seemed  to  write  upon  every  dollar  of  his  possessions, 
"  Holiness  unto  the  Lord." 

He  built  a  house  of  worship  in  the  place  where  he  lived,  pay- 
ing for  it  from  the  foundation  to  the  top-stone,  and  when  it  was 
finished  he  gave  the  minister  the  key,  and  deeded  it  to  "  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  of  the  United  States  of  America." 
He  found,  instead  of  impoverishing  himself,  the  truth  illus- 
trated, "  There  is  that  scattereth,  and  yet  increaseth."  He 
accumulated  greater  wealth  and  became  possessed  of  larger  es- 
tates. Some  one  inquired  of  him  how  it  was,  as  he  was  shovel- 
ing out  all  the  time,  he  appeared  to  be  accumulating  more  and 
more.  This  was  a  mystery  they  could  not  understand ;  they 
wished  he  would  solve  it.  He  explained  it  in  this  way :  "There 
are  two  shovels — the  Lord  keeps  one  and  I  keep  the  other.  I 
keep  shoveling  out  all  the  time,  and  the  Lord  keeps  shoveling 
in.  The  Lord's  shovel  is  so  much  larger  than  mine  that  He  can 


58  LIFE   OF   REV.    CHAELES   PITMAN,    D.D. 

shovel  faster  and  a  great  deal  more ;  so,  with  his  big  shovel,  He 
shovels  in  faster  than  I  can  shovel  out,  and  so  I  am  kept  full, 
with  abundance." 

Rev.  D.  W.  Bartine  relates  the  following  incident  concerning 
Mr.  Pitman's  preaching  :  "  Dr.  Pitman  preached  in  Cape  May 
County,  N.  J.,  while  Presiding  Elder  of  the  West  Jersey  Dis- 
trict, Philadelphia  Conference,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Goshen. 
His  text  was,  '  Hear  instruction,  and  be  wise,  and  refuse  it  not' 
(Prov.  viii.  33) ;  the  theme,  '  The  counsels  of  wisdom.'  He 
preached  with  power,  and  the  unction  of  the  Holy  One  came 
down  upon  the  people;  a  great  number  were  awakened,  and 
some  fell  like  dead  men,  speechless  and  for  a  time  unconscious ; 
others  broke  out  in  greatest  agony  of  soul,  crying,  '  God  be 
merciful  to  me,  a  sinner.'  The  revival  power  swept  like  a  tor- 
nado, and  young  and  old,  rich  and  poor,  while  and  colored  sought 
the  forgiveness  of  their  sins.  The  scene  beggared  all  descrip- 
tion, and  it  was  truly  said,  '  It  was  never  seen  on  this  fashion 
before.'  Mr.  Pitman  was  then  in  his  glory;  noble  in  the  devel- 
opment of  his  manhood,  his  whole  nature  seemed  to  be  imbued 
with  spiritual  power,  which  inspired  him  with  supernatural  en- 
ergy on  such  occasions,  and  his  words  were  like  the  words  of  an 
oracle  and  his  voice  like  the  voice  of  an  angel.  That  event  has 
an  existence  even  to  this  day ;  a  few  live  who  remember  it,  but 
the  greater  part  have  joined,  with  the  immortal  Pitman,  the 
church  triumphant  in  heaven.  Methodism  had  no  standing  in 
all  that  country ;  it  was  new ;  it  was  its  introduction  ;  it  gave  it 
character  and  influence  throughout  the  whole  county ;  it  gave  it 
a  momentum  that  has  not  ceased  to  this  day.  Goshen  and  Dias 
Creek,  Green  Tree  and  Court- House  Churches  and  their  congre- 
gations of  earnest  worshippers  attest  the  mighty  power  of  God 
on  that  glorious  day  of  divine  visitation.  The  subject  of  build- 
ing churches  at  Goshen  and  Cape  May  Court-House  was  then 
projected,  and  a  subscription  was  started ;  one  after  another 
signed  liberally.  At  last  they  came  to  a  brother  who  had  been 


REV.  DR.  BARTINE'S  INCIDENT.  59 

powerfully  awakened  and  converted  to  God  ;  he  was  happy,  and 
when  asked  to  subscribe  said,  ( Yes ;  the  Lord  has  blest  my  soul 
and  I  thank  Him  for  it.  I  have  no  money,  but  I  havfe  a  flock 
of  fine  sheep,  and  you  may  have  the  whole  flock.'  The  sheep 
were  accepted,  and  were  put  into  the  market,  and  the  sum  real- 
ized from  the  sale,  was  one  of  the  largest  contributions,  if  not  the 
largest,  that  was  made  towards  building  the  new]church.  The  peo  - 
pie  used  to  designate  the  occasion  as  '  Mr.  Pitman's  sermon,  with 
which  he  preached  a  flock  of  sheep  out  of  a  man,  towards  build- 
ing a  new  church,'  and  they  called  it  the  '  Sheep  Sermon.' " 

The  names  of  the  officiary  of  both  of  these  circuits  have  great 
historic  interest  and  significance,  and  reveal  to  us  the  men  who 
were  the  founders  of  Methodism  in  Southern  New  Jersey,  as 
well  as  perpetuate  the  grand  victories  which  under  God  have 
been  obtained  on  this  fruitful  field  by  a  host  of  illustrious  suc- 
cessors. Heading  this  heroic  list  are  the  names  of  Benjamin 
Fisler,  Michael  Swing,  John  Townsend,  who  were  local  elders, 
and  John  Clarke,  John  Wishart,  William  Mangan,  Amos  C. 
Moses,  Israel  Townsend,  Jesse  Cooms,  Joseph  Champion,  James 
B.  Parvin,  Samuel  Cosaboon,  George  McKaiges,  who  were 
local  preachers,  and  David  Hildreth,  Thomas  Henderson,  Uriah 
Ackley,  Enoch  Springer,  Josiah  Shaw,  Samuel  Peacock,  Parson 
Townsend,  Hiram  R.  Harrold,  who  were  exhorters,  and  several 
of  the  afore-mentioned  were  also  leaders,  and  Jacob  Hagley, 
John  Mclntosh,  Joseph  Butcher,  George  Spence,  Robert  Wilson, 
James  Cosaboon,  Ethan  Lore,  Jeremiah  Bingham,  John  Mis- 
kelly,  Stephen  Garrison,  Elias  Corson,  George  Legg,  Matthias 
Steelman,  Jonathan  Burden,  John  Godfrey,  Stacy  Wilson,  Con- 
stantine  Blackman,  William  Heisler,  Jonathan  Coney,  Samuel 
Silvers,  Joseph  Sutton,  Matthias  Richmond,  Eli  Budd,  David 
Hornbrook,  Gilbert  Compton,  John  Ackley,  Joseph  Mestrict  and 
Samuel  Launing  were  the  Leaders.  The  Stewards  were  Eli 
Budd,  Matthias  Richman,  Michael  Swing,  Jacob  Learning,  Jo- 
seph Butcher,  Josiah  Champion  and  Ichabod  Compton. 


60  LIFE   OF   REV.    CHARLES   PITMAN,    D.D. 

What  changes  have  taken  place  on  Old  Gloucester  Circuit 
since  that  time  !  The  Circuit  itself  has  been  narrowed  down  to 
two  or  three  appointments.  Porchtown,  the  head  of  the  Circuit, 
still  remains.  The  church,  which  was  once  the  glory  and  pride  of 
that  people,  though  still  standing,  bears  evident  marks  of  time  and 
the  years  that  have  intervened.  But  where  are  the  "  Porches," 
and  the  "Cranes,"  who  were  so  prominent  in  that  day? 
AlHiave  passed  away.  But  few  of  their  descendants  remain,  and 
what  was  once  a  crowded  centre  for  the  people  to  gather  to  on 
Sabbath  morning  has  now  but  a  small  congregation,  and  the 
church  has  come  to  be  considered  but  an  ordinary  style  of  a 
country  church,  whose  architecture  would  form  no  model  for  a 
church  or  house  of  worship  in  this  day. 

If  we  inquire  what  has  become  of  those  who  composed  "Old 
Gloucester  Circuit"  at  that  time,  the  same  response  is  to  be 
given  to  our  inquiries.  They,  too,  have  passed  away.  The  sole 
and  last  survivor  closed  his  eyes  on  things  earthly  in  April,  1886, 
in  blessed  hope  of  eternal  life.  And  where  are  the  Richards  and 
that  queenly  Christian  lady,  "Mother  Richards,"  as  she  was 
familiarly  called,  and  who  always  delighted  to  welcome  Mr. 
Pitman  and  other  preachers  to  the  hospitalities  of  her  palatial 
mansion  at  Batsto.  They  sleep  with  the  large  company  of  people 
who  tenanted  the  place  sixty  years  ago,  in  the  church-yard 
which  Mrs.  Richards  donated  to  the  church.  The  church  still 
stands,  to  which  at  her  death,  she  left  a  perpetual  legacy,  the 
interest  of  which  is  to  be  applied  to  the  support  of  the  Methodist 
preacher  stationed  at  Pleasant  Mills.  Cumberland  Circuit  has 
barely  an  existence  now,  an  insignificant  remnant  of  what  it  was 
formerly.  And  the  lower  part  of  Cape  May  has  never  relapsed 
into  formalism  since  Mr.  Pitman's  wonderful  sermon,  which, 
under  the  power  of  God,  gave  it,  its  death-blow  at  that  time. 
Some  half-dozen  or  more  active,  earnest  churches  now  cluster 
near  the  place  of  his  conflict,  and  their  influence  is  to  this  day 
a  mighty  incentive  to  Christian  activity  and  devout,  earnest, 
Christian  work  all  through  that  section  of  country. 


CHAPTER    V. 

WEST  JERSEY   DISTRICT  CONTINUED. 

THE  most  of  Mr.  Pitman's  work  as  Presiding  Elder,  as  we 
have  seen,  extended  over  large  circuits,  and  the  quarterly 
visitations  were  generally  made  at  those  points  on  these  circuits 
where  the  churches  could  in  some  desirable  degree  accommodate 
the  great  quarterly  gatherings,  and  be  convenient  for  the  peo- 
ple of  the  different  localities  to  attend.  A  station  in  those  days 
was  a  place  of  rare  occurrence ;  the  gospel  seed  was  then  being 
planted,  the  field  was  large  and  of  difficult  tillage,  and  the  la- 
borers were  few  and  comparatively  far  from  each  other.  Tren- 
ton was  considered  the  head  of  the  district,  and  was  also  the 
seat  of  government  in  New  Jersey,  and  Methodism  being  in- 
troduced in  that  city  in  the  year  1771  or  '72  had  already  ob- 
tained good  foot  hold,  and  was  quite  prosperous  with  a  good 
congregation,  but  there  was  another  growing  centre  of  interest 
and  wealth  located  in  the  extreme  southern  part  of  New  Jersey, 
called  "Bridgetown,"  situated  at  the  head  of  navigation  on  the 
Cohansey  River,  the  county-seat  of  Cumberland  County. 

It  was  also  a  great  manufacturing  place  in  iron,  and  was  sup- 
plied with  smelted  ore  from  "Old  Cumberland  Furnace,"  which 
originally  was  gathered  from  the  bogs  and  low-lands  of  New 
Jersey  swamps  in  Cumberland  County.  After  being  smelted  at 
Cumberland  furnace,  it  was  brought  to  "  Bridgetown "  and 
manufactured  into  nails,  and  agricultural  implements,  and  arti- 
cles of  husbandry,  and  has  continued  a  manufacturing  place 
to  this  day,  and  been  the  means  of  developing  the  town  into 
one  of  the  most  pleasant  and  enterprising  cities  of  the  State,  as 

61 


62  LJFE  OF   RET.   CHARLES   PITMAN,   D.D. 

well  as  the  county  into  one  of  the  most  flourishing  and  highly 
cultivated  farming  sections  in  the  country. 

Mr.  Pitman  was  stationed  in  "Bridgetown"  in  the  years 
of  1823  and  1824.  It  was  while  stationed  here  he  married  his 
second  wife,  and  she  came  to  the  place  as  the  companion  and 
help-meet  of  the  preacher  in  charge  October  25,  1823.  Here 
a  most  gracious  revival  of  religion  had  progressed  under  his 
ministry  for  two  years,  in  which  the  society  had  more  than  dou- 
bled its  numbers  in  membership,  and  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
six  souls  were  converted,  and  out  of  this  large  number,  one  hun- 
dred and  nineteen  were  after  their  six  months  probation  received 
into  full  membership. 

If  some  of  our  preachers,  who  in  these  times  discuss  so  logic- 
ally and  write  so  voluminously  on  the  question  of  "  What  be- 
comes of  our  probationers,"  would  know  the  secret  of  Mr.  Pit- 
man's extraordinary  success  in  graduating  so  many  from  the 
penitent  seat,  up  to  the  honors  of  full  membership  in  the  Church 
of  God,  so  thoroughly,  and  without  much  loss  in  numbers,  we 
would  answer  the  inquiry  by  saying,  that  the  Fathers  in  the 
ministry  preached  the  doctrine  of  religion,  i.  e.}  the  doctrines  of 
the  gospel,  and  men  were  awakened  under  their  preaching,  who 
felt  the  need  of  salvation,  and  earnestly  desired  "  to  flee  from  the 
wrath  to  come."  They  also  believed  in  a  deep  and  thorough 
conviction,  a  genuine  and  godly  sorrow  for  sin,  and  a  sound  con- 
version to  God.  Nothing  less  than  this  was  deemed  acceptable,  and 
was  satisfactory  to  the  church  as  an  evidence  of  a  true  change 
of  heart,  and  of  its  reality  and  fruits,  their  Christian  life  was  to 
demonstrate  in  after  years. 

Their  spiritual  training  was  chiefly  in  the  evangelism,  which 
Mr.  Pitman  represented  in  his  religious  teachings  and  preaching 
among  them,  and  which  in  their  after  Christian  life  they  so  fully 
illustrated  by  their  fidelity  and  faithfulness,  as  well  as  earnest 
worship  to  God.  Mr.  Pitman  was  called  to  it  by  the  exigencies 
of  the  times,  and  the  means  were  an  end  for  its  accomplishment, 


BEIDGETON  STATION.  63 

and  this  experience  corresponded  with  the  genuine  character  of 
Holy  Ghost  preaching  which  the  people  at  that  time  craved  so 
earnestly,  and  felt  in  their  hearts  such  a  longing  for,  and  which 
they  could  only  find,  in  a  home,  in  the  connection,  and  among 
the  earnest  and  enthusiastic  followers  of  the  teachings  of  Wesley. 
That  we  have  widely  departed,  in  what  is  apologiziugly  termed, 
our  aggressive  movement,  or  advancement  from  this  old  time 
standard  of  Methodistic  teaching  and  experience  is  evident  from 
the  teachings  of  the  Fathers,  as  set  forth  in  Bishop  Emory's 
"  History  of  the  Discipline,"  and  other  church  historians  who 
have  embodied  the  spirit  of  their  times,  with  the  zeal  and  suc- 
cess, which  under  God  characterized  the  work  of  his  servants,  in 
being  so  pre-eminently  fruitful  in  gathering  souls  into  the  Mas- 
ter's kingdom,  on  earth,  and  in  building  up  a  lively  and  ener- 
getic church,  for  the  honor  of  his  name,  and  from  the  effect 
which  their  preaching  produced  upon  the  people,  and  the 
contrast  which  the  present  period  indicates  in  the  quaint  themes, 
and  pulpit  quackery,  that  fill  the  columns  of  religious  notices, 
which  appear  in  our  secular  papers  of  each  week,  and  which  is 
so  clearly  demonstrated  in  the  disrelish  that  so  many  people  ex- 
press in  attending  our  churches  and  places  of  religious  worship. 
Brethren !  there  is  no  use  of  suppressing  matters.  The  only  way, 
oftentimes,  to  correct  an  evil  is  by  exposing  it.  The  church  is 
being  shorn  of  its  strength,  as  well  as  of  its  members,  by  a  fail- 
ure in  presenting  the  gospel  themes,  and  preaching  the  doctrines 
of  religion,  and  heeding  the  apostles'  teaching  (even  to  the 
sacrificing  of  popularity  and  fame,  or  desire  for  greatness  and 
distinction).  "  For  we  preach,  not  ourselves,  but  Christ  Jesus 
the  Lord,  and  ourselves  your  servants  for  Jesus'  sake."  It  was 
when  "  Bridgetown  "  was  first  set  off  as  a  station  that  he  was 
sent  to  it  as  the  preacher  in  charge,  and  now  after  a  year's  ab- 
sence in  which  he  had  been  stationed  in  Philadelphia,  he  comes 
back  to  "  Bridgetown  "  as  the  Presiding  Elder  of  the  district. 
The  interest  that  would  naturally  gather  around  an  event  of 


64  LIFE   OF   REV.    CHARLES   PITMAN,    D.D. 

this  kind  must  be  apparent  to  every  minister  of  the  gospel  who 
has  traveled  a  circuit,  or  filled  a  station,  and  it  is  not  be  wondered 
at,  that  half  the  people  of  the  county,  would  crowd  the  place  on 
the  quarterly  meeting  occasion  to  hear  their  old  pastor,  and  now 
the  Presiding  Elder  of  the  district.  In  those  days  such  was  the 
dignity  of  the  office,  and  such  the  wisdom  and  talent  that  were 
required  to  fill  the  position,  that  the  Bishop  who  made  these  ap- 
pointments was  very  careful  in  the  selections  he  made  of  men 
for  these  positions,  and  no  man  or  minister  was  put  into  them 
without  having  at  least  the  three  great  requisites  of  ministerial 
quality — "  gifts,  grace  and  usefulness," — and  that  he  was  a  man 
of  deep  piety,  sound  wisdom  and  pre-eminent  discretion,  and 
beside  these,  it  was  requisite  that  he  be  an  able  minister  of  the 
New  Testament,  and  fully  equipped  to  "  preach  the  word  "  in 
demonstration  of  the  Spirit  and  power ;  in  fact,  he  must  be  a  man 
chosen  from  the  best  and  most  gifted  men  in  the  Conference — a 
man  who  loved  the  work  for  the  work's  sake,  and  not  one  who 
has  an  eye  to  the  emoluments  and  honors  of  the  office  more  than 
the  good  of  the  church,  whose  interests  he  was  to  serve. 

Mr.  Pitman  was  selected  as  this  man,  and  though  he  had  been 
but  eight  years  a  traveling  preacher,  and  but  five  years  since  his 
ordination  to  the  office  of  an  elder  in  the  church  of  God,  Bishops 
McKendree  and  Hedding  selected  Charles  Pitman  from  among 
the  host  of  great  men,  and  good  men,  that  composed  the  old  and 
time-honored  Philadelphia  Conference  at  that  time,  as  the  proper 
man  to  be  appointed  Presiding  Elder  of  the  West  Jersey  District, 
and  the  subsequent  labor  and  vigilance  of  Mr.  Pitman  demon- 
strated the  fact  that  the  Bishop  did  not  make  a  mistake,  nor  was 
his  wisdom  at  fault  in  making  such  a  selection,  and  designating 
him  to  such  an  office. 

The  names  of  the  officiary  of  the  "  Bridgetown  "  Quarterly 
Conference,  at  that  time,  were  Holmes  Parvin  and  Jonathan 
Brooks,  local  deacons ;  James  Ayars,  John  Code  were  exhorters, 
and  Samuel  Bowen,  Thomas  Dunlap,  John  R.  Gary,  John 


BRLDGETON   AND   SALEM  STATIONS.  65 

Salkeld  and  Robert  Pool  were  leaders,  and  Jonathan  Brooks, 
Thomas  Dunlap,  Nathan  Tomlinson,  John  Salkeld  and  William 
H.  Robinson,  were  the  stewards. 

Salem  Station  is  the  last  station  on  the  list,  and  from  the  plan 
of  the  district  at  that  time,  we  find  that  it  contained  only  three 
stations — Trenton,  "Bridgetown"  and  Salem.  The  original 
Salem  Circuit  now  contains  fifteen  circuits  and  stations.  "  Salem- 
town,"  is  one  of  the  most  venerable  land-marks  of  Methodism. 
The  original  old  South  Street  (now  Walnut  Street  Church) 
still  stands,  and  has  an  interesting  and  well-attended  congrega- 
tion, and  there  hundreds  of  souls  have  been  converted.  Some 
twenty-five  or  thirty  years  ago  she  branched  out,  and  another 
church  was  built,  which,  though  eclipsing  the  old  church  in 
beauty  and  dimensions  (having  a  grand  history  thus  far)  has  in 
no  way  diminished  the  glory  of  the  former,  or  surpassed  it  in 
active  revival  work.  But  what  is  a  matter  of  great  historic  in- 
terest to  this  church,  is  its  burial-ground  ;  where  a  greater  part 
of  the  older  citizens  of  Salem  City,  now  sleep  their  last  sleep, 
among  whom  rests  all  that  was  mortal  of  the  remains  of  those 
pioneer  fathers  of  early  Methodism,  Rev.  Benjamin  Abbott  and 
Rev.  Thomas  Ware. 

The  names  of  the  official  members  were  as  follows  :  William 
Mulford,  James  Newell  and  Moses  Crane  who  were  local  dea- 
cons ;  John  Gardiner  and  Thomas  Baker  were  exhorters ;  Maskill 
Mulford,  Charles  Ramsey  and  William  L.  Mulford  were 
leaders.  The  Stewards  were  James  Newell,  William  L.  Mulford, 
William  Mulford,  Isaac  L.  Coffee  and  James  W.  Mulford. 

The  next  in  order  of  the  quarterly  appointments  comes  Salem 
Circuit,  which  at  that  time  embraced  the  greater  part  of  Salem 
County.  Among  its  preaching-places  were  Allowaystown, 
Sharptown,  Pennsville,  Pennsgrove,  Sculltown  (now  called  Au- 
burn), Pedricktown,  Pittsgrove,  Swedesboro',  Murphys  (now 
called  Friendship),  and  Woodstown.  The  men  who  rode  over  this 
country  at  that  time  have  ever-enduring  laurels  added  to  their 
5 


66  LIFE   OF   REV.    CHARLES   PITMAN,    D.D. 

names,  and  they  stand  enrolled  upon  the  records  of  Methodistic 
fame  for  their  great  and  good  work.  Among  them  were  R. 
Gerry,  Williams,  Moore,  Stewart,  Ford,  Bartine,  Sr.,  M.  Day, 
Walker,  Rusling,  Christopher,  Osborne,  Stout,  Gearheart  and 
others,  who  labored  assiduously  and  indefatigably,  and  won  dis- 
tinguished trophies  for  the  Master's  name. 

The  officiary  were  John  Boqua,  and  Joseph  Jaquett,  who  were 
local  deacons ;  Thomas  Fox,  Samuel  Goslin  and  Thomas  Totten 
were  local  preachers;  Bartholomew  Styles,  Daniel  Shough, 
Isaac  Shute,  William  Lay  ton,  Thomas  Davidson,  John  Holton, 
Samuel  Atkinson,  Peter  Bilderback  and  Edward  Smith  were 
exhorters ;  Malachi  Horner,  John  Avis,  William  Morris,  Zacch- 
eus  Ray,  John  Summerill,  Moses  Sampson,  Samuel  Gilmore, 
John  Dailey,  John  Ayars,  John  Styles,  John  Frazier,  Nicholas 
Hyles,  Samuel  Fogg,  Richard  Sparks,  Thomas  Mills,  Samuel 
Langley,  Jacob  Loudenslager,  Benjamin  Wood  and  Palscar 
Smith  were  leaders.  The  stewards  were  Thomas  Murphy, 
Samuel  Keene,  David  Richmond,  Zaccheus  Ray,  Jeremiah  Stull, 
Peter  Bilderback  and  William  Morris. 

The  number  of  sermons  generally  preached  by  Mr.  Pitman 
during  the  year  ranged  from  two  hundred  and  ten  to  two  hun- 
dred and  twenty.  Quarterly  meeting,  as  afore-mentioned  always 
commenced  on  Saturday  morning.  The  love  feast  was  the  open- 
ing service  on  Sabbath  morning,  presided  over  by  Mr.  Pitman, 
and  commenced  at  9  A.  M.  in  the  summer  and  9.30  A.  M.  in  the 
winter ;  and  lasting  from  one  and  a  quarter,  to  one  and  three- 
quarters  of  an  hour.  They  were  seasons  of  great  spiritual  power, 
and  religious  fervor.  Animated  singing,  earnest  narration  of  re- 
ligious experience,  shouts  of  praise,  and  loud  breaking  hallelujahs 
were  rolled  up  to  heaven  in  waves  of  gratitude  and  thanksgiving 
that  made  both  the  church  and  the  welkin  ring.  These  occa- 
sions have  often  been  spoken  of  by  our  fathers,  as  scenes  in 
which  were  disclosed  the  wonderful  power  of  God.  The  few 
•who  still  survive,  refer  to  them  as  the  palmy  days  of  Methodism. 


SALEM  CIRCUIT,  QUARTERLY  MEETINGS,  SINGING.  67 

The  morning  sermon  which  followed  the  love  feast,  was  preached 
by  Mr.  Pitman,  and  the  people  well  knew  that  the  trumpet 
would  give  no  uncertain  sound  on  those  occasions.  Mr.  Pitman 
stirred  and  moved  by  the  love  feast  exercises,  would  enter  the 
pnlpit  with  a  seraphic  glow  upon  his  countenance,  announce 
some  familiar  hymn,  which  a  choir  of  a  thousand  to  twelve  hun- 
dred voices  would  all  join  in,  and  with  a  harmony  that  would 
well  compare  with  the  singing  of  any  congregation  of  modern 
times,  and  a  melody  that  far  transcended  the  most  artistically 
trained  voices  of  many  of  our  popular  quartettes.  It  was  sacred 
song,  prompted  by  the  emotional  fervor  and  holy  influence  of 
souls,  filled  to  overflowing  with  the  love  of  God.  The  prayer 
offered  by  Mr.  Pitman  is  said  to  have  been  a  most  profound, 
reverential  and  solemn  address  to  the  Deity,  and  the  breathless 
silence  that  prevailed  seemed  to  hush  all  hearts  in  silent  awe, 
while  the  preacher  held  audience  with  God,  for  divine  aid  upon 
the  services.  Near  its  close,  as  the  petition  contemplated  the 
rewards  of  Christian  life  on  earth,  culminating  in  immortal 
joys  in  heaven,  and  the  assembling  of  the  people,  "  where  con- 
gregations ne'er  break  up,  and  Sabbaths  have  no  end,"  the  pent- 
up  fires  of  holy  love  and  spiritual  zeal,  would  flame  out  in 
the  most  hearty  ejaculations,  and  exclamations,  of  "  Amen  ! " 
"Glory  to  God!"  "Hallelujah!"  "Praise  the  Lord!" 
The  prayer  being  ended,  the  Scripture  lessons  were  read, 
which  were  brief,  and  a  second  hymn  was  sung ;  and 
not  infrequently  that  was :  "  All  hail  the  power  of  Jesus' 
name,"  etc.,  or,  "  O  that  my  load  of  sin  were  gone,"  etc.,  or, 
"  Come  thou  fount  of  every  blessing,"  etc.  These,  with  several 
others,  were  favorite  hymns  with  Mr.  Pitman.  Then  came  the 
sermon.  We  will  not  attempt  to  analyze  the  qualities,  or  char- 
acteristics of  Mr.  Pitman's  preaching,  or  to  account  for  the  secret 
of  his  power.  We  may  refer  to  his  preaching  in  another  chap- 
ter farther  on.  But  those  quarterly  meeting  sermons,  as  they 
have  been  commonly  denominated,  have  lived  in  the  hearts  and 


68  LIFE   OF   REV.    CHARLES   PITMAN,   D.D. 

memories  of  those  who  heard  them  as  long  as  they  lived,  and 
many  of  our  fathers  have  told  us  of  their  wonderful  power,  and 
we  tell  it  to  the  generations  following.  But  few  now  remain, 
who  had  the  privilege  to  hear  the  great  New  Jersey  apostle  for 
God  and  Methodism.  It  was  Charles  Pitman,  under  God,  more 
than  any  other  man,  who  laid  the  foundations,  for  the  success- 
ful up-building  of  Methodism  in  New  Jersey. 

It  may  not  be  an  uninteresting  matter  to  the  reader  for  us  to 
glance  at  the  receipts  and  remuneration,  which  Mr.  Pitman  re- 
ceived, for  his  services  as  Presiding  Elder.  From  a  careful  com- 
pilation of  the  amounts,  received  from  the  several  Circuits  and 
Stations,  we  find  that  the  salary  paid  him  was  from  three  hundred, 
to  three  hundred  and  fifty  dollars,  less  in  many  instances  than 
the  salary  of  a  young  man  in  his  first  work  in  the  Conference. 
In  connection  with  this,  an  allowance  was  made  of  some  sixty  or 
seventy-five  dollars  for  house-rent  and  fuel,  as  also  an  allowance 
for  traveling  expenses,  which  included,  in  connection  with  the 
expenses  in  going  to,  and  from  Conference,  the  keeping  of  a 
horse,  shoeing,  repair  of  harness,  repair  of  carriage,  and  all  the 
incidentals  in  connection  with  his  work  on  the  district.  Some- 
times, when  opportunity  of  public  transportation  offered,  the 
horse  and  carriage  were  left  at  Camden,  and  Mr.  Pitman  would 
take  the  steamboat  from  Philadelphia  to  Burlington ;  but  the 
luxury  of  a  public  line  of  travel,  was  to  be  enjoyed  only  when 
quarterly  meeting  was  held  at  some  place  or  circuit,  which  was 
located  on,  or  touched  the  border  of  the  Delaware  river.  There 
is  no  reference  to  railroad  travel  in  his  record. 

Mr.  Pitman  not  only  kept  the  societies  over  which  he  was 
placed  as  pastor,  and  the  district  of  which  he  was  Presiding  Elder 
"well  supplied  with  books,"  but  it  is  remarkable  to  note  the 
number  he  sold.  These  sales  amounted  to  nearly  three  hundred 
dollars  quarterly,  and  in  some  instances  from  twelve  to  thirteen 
hundred  dollars'  worth  of  Books  and  Conference  Minutes  were 
sold  yearly.  These  Books  embraced  "Hymn  Books,"  "Disci- 


CHARACTER   OF   BOOKS  SOLD   BY   MR.    PITMAN.  69 

plines,"  "Religious  Biographies,"  "Magazines,"  "Baxter's 
Saints'  Rest,"  "  Kempis'  Christian  Pattern,"  "Memoirs,"  "  Daily 
Devotional  Exercises,"  "  Works  on  Baptism,"  "  Christian  Per- 
fection," "Doctrinal  Tracts,"  "Bibles,"  "Bible  Dictionaries," 
"Concordances,"  "Questions  on  Biblical  Exegesis,"  "Life  of 
Hester  Ann  Rogers,"  "  Lady  Huntington,"  "  Nelson's  Journal," 
"  Doddridge's  Rise  and  Progress,"  "  Call  to  the  Unconverted," 
"Address  to  Seekers,"  "Alleine's  Alarm,"  "Sermons,"  "Cate- 
chisms," "  Works  on  the  Exposition  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures," 
"Works  of  Wesley,"  "Clarke,"  "Fisk,"  "Bennett,"  "Fletcher," 
and  other  eminent  ministers  of  Christ,  in  connection  with  some 
others  specially  designed  for  the  preachers,  as  "Hannam's  Pulpit 
Assistant,"  "  Young's  Night  Thoughts,"  "  Watson's  Institutes," 
"  Irving's  Orations,"  "  Pilgrim's  Progress,"  "  Buck's  Theological 
Dictionary,"  "  Christian  Manual,"  "Abbott's  Journal,"  "  Clarke's 
Commentary,"  "  Paley's  Evidences  "  and  "  Works,"  "  Josephus," 
"  Martindale's  Dictionary,"  "  Chalmers'  Works,"  "  Drelincourt 
on  Death,"  "  Rollin's  History,"  "  Conference  Sketches,"  "  Drew's 
Sermons,"  "  Potts'  Sermons,"  "  Home's  Introduction,"  "  Battle's 
Works,"  "  Life  of  Fletcher,"  "  Irving's  Missionary,"  "  Crabb's 
Synonyms,"  "  Life  of  Watson,"  "  Bramwell,"  and  others.  The 
Catechism,  Conference  Minutes  and  Hymn  Books,  had  a  very 
large  and  extensive  sale,  and  numbered  over  two  thousand  yearly. 
The  writing  and  making  of  books  were  limited,  and  in  those 
times,  were  confined  to  a  few,  not  like  the  present,  when  it  is 
said,  "Of  the  making  of  books  there  is  no  end."  Think  of  a 
minister  of  the  gospel,  or  a  Presiding  Elder  starting  out  on  his. 
circuit,  or  district,  with  his  carriage-box,  packed  with  the  afore- 
mentioned kind  of  books,  offering  them  for  sale  to  the  people ! 
How  many  would  he  sell  in  a  week  ?  We  forbear  a  reply,  and 
remark,  what  a  sad  commentary  on  the  interest  that  ought  to  be 
felt  in  devotional  reading  !  Religious  experience  and  practical 
godliness  are  suffering,  for  the  want  of  religious  biography,  and 
other  similar  books. 


70  LIFE  OP   REV.   CHARLES   PITMAN,   D.D. 

It  was  the  consistent  and  devout  lives,  the  happy  and  trium- 
phant deaths,  of  the  early  Christians  that  gave  such  wonderful 
influence  and  rapid  spread  to  the  gospel  in  Apostolic,  and  subse- 
quent times.  It  was  the  same  divine  influence  that  characterized 
the  times  and  spirit,  of  early  Methodism  all  over  this  country,  and 
gave  success  to  the  work  of  the  Church  in  the  times  of  our 
fathers,  and  spread  far  and  wide  the  influence  and  zeal  of  that 
piety  and  faith,  that  won  so  many  to  the  kingdom  of  Christ. 
Pause  a  moment,  reader,  and  ask  yourself,  where  are  those  valu- 
able books  now  ?  They  gave  inspiration  to  the  thought  that  fired 
the  intellects  of  Methodism  sixty  years  ago,  and  that  fire  is  burn- 
ing in  the  hearts  of  their  descendants  to  this  day,  thank  God  !  and 
laid  the  foundations  of  the  Church  of  our  choice  in  this  section 
of  country,  which  nothing  but  a  like  industry  and  literature  will 
continue.  It  was  an  outside  college  for  the  people,  and  furnished 
those  facilities  for  mental  and  spiritual  improvement,  which,  if  it 
had  b3en  otherwise,  they  would  have  failed  to  have  secured,  and 
the  Church  would  have  been  deprived  of  its  efficiency  and  effect- 
iveness in  the  cause  of  Christ.  Thus  Mr.  Pitman  supplemented 
his  popular  ministry,  by  the  circulation  of  our  Church  literature, 
to  which  our  people  generally  had  no  access  except,  by  such  a 
measure  or  means. 

It  would  be  a  long  list  to  give  the  names  of  all  the  different 
persons,  in  the  various  charges  and  circuits  of  the  District,  who 
purchased  books  of  Mr.  Pitman,  but  among  them  are  found  the 
fathers  and  mothers  of  Methodism  in  New  Jersey.  Joseph  Yard, 
of  Trenton,  N.  J.,  heads  the  list.  Budd  Sterling,  of  Burlington, 
Philip  Souder,  of  Gloucester,  and  Philip  Bilderback,  of  Salem, 
follow  in  immediate  succession.  Then  comes  Samuel  Carhart, 
with  a  long  list  of  the  Carharts,  Comptons,  Bowers,  Swings, 
Fetters,  Sextons,  McDowells,  Bennetts,  Barnets,  Irelands,  Yan- 
sants,  Stangers,  Newells,  Fislers,  Steelmans,  Rogers,  Mulfords, 
Browns,  McCabes,  Richards,  Doughtys,  Bakers,  Townsends, 
Chapmans,  McGees,  Taskers,  Creeds,  Reeds,  Turners,  Throck- 


PURCHASERS  OF  BOOKS,  LAYMEN  AND  PREACHEES.          71 

mortons,  Lippincotts,  Fosters,  Davises,  Tiltons,  Cowperthwaites, 
Bodines,  Wilsons,  Becketts,  Longacres,  Budds,  Jones,  Smiths, 
Crowleys,  and  a  host  of  others.  Most  of  the  books  that  were 
sold  by  Mr.  Pitman,  were  the  publications  of  the  M.  E.  Book 
Concern,  New  York ;  Bibles  and  Hymn  Books  being  mostly  in 
demand.  A  regular  account  of  these  sales  was  kept  by  Mr. 
Pitman,  with  both  preachers,  and  people,  on  each  circuit ;  and 
when  there  were  those  who  had  purchased,  and  were  too  poor 
to  pay,  he  frankly  forgave  the  debt,  and  this  amounted  in  one 
year  to  two  hundred  and  fourteen  dollars. 

While  it  is  not  convenient  for  us  to  give  the  names  of  all  the 
persons  who  purchased  books  from  Mr.  Pitman  in  his  jour- 
neys through  New  Jersey,  it  may  be  a  matter  of  interest  to 
know  the  names  of  some  of  the  preachers  that  were  associated 
with  him  on  the  West  Jersey  District,  and  who  frequently  pat- 
ronized that  itinerating  "Methodist  Book  Concern"  in  those 
times,  when  any  other  was  hardly  known,  and  among  them 
were :  Revs.  W.  W.  Foulks,  William  Mulford,  William  Lum- 
rais,  John  Potts,  Robert  Gerry,  Joseph  Carey,  James  Ayars, 
John  McClintock,  Waters  Burroughs,  Daniel  Fidler,  Anthony 
Atwood,  William  Barnes,  Edward  Page,  Samuel  Doughty,  Riley 
Barret,  Nathan  Swain,  William  A.  Wilmer,  Solomon  Sharp, 
Joseph  Osborn,  John  Finley,  Nicholas  Vansant,  Sedgewick 
Rusling,  John  Walker,  George  Wolley,  John  Woolston,  James 
McLaurin,  Manning  Force,  Thomas  Sovereign,  Eliphalet  Reed, 
John  Turner,  James  B.  Parvin,  James  Newell,  R.  W.  Pether- 
bridge,  P.  A.  Ogden,  William  Foster,  Wm.  McLenahan,  Thomas 
T.  Tasker,  John  Rainey,  William  Budd  and  Andrew  Fort ;  and 
though  blind  from  the  fourth  year  of  her  age,  the  name  of  Mary 
Collins,  of  precious  Christian  memory,  is  found  several  times 
on  the  list,  as  a  purchaser  of  religious  books;  and  Colored 
John  is  noted  for  his  purchasing  a  Camp  Meeting  Hymn  Book. 
Mary  Collins  and  Colored  John  have  read,  and  sung  themselves, 
long  years  ago,  as  most  of  their  friends  now  living  know,  into 


72  JLIFE   OP  REV.   CHARLES  PITMAN,   D.D. 

the  glory-land.  What  hallowed  associations  cluster  around  these 
names  I  What  sacred  memories  do  they  recall !  How  few  are 
living  now  that  lived  in  those  times  !  Here  and  there  one,  like 
some  central  oak  in  a  forest  levelled  by  a  tempest's  furious  blast, 
still  stands  to  tell  of  the  mighty  monarchs,  that  once  formed  the 
phalanx  of  God's  militant  hosts,  led  on  by  the  trumpet-tones  of 
the  soul-stirring  voice  of  the  wonderful  Pitman.  Atwood,  then 
a  young  man  in  his  vigor,  now  bends  under  the  weight  of  over 
four-score  years,  and  shouts  with  faltering  voice,  "  I'm  ready  for 
the  Master's  call !"  Sovereign,  then  just  beginning  his  itinerat- 
ing career,  now  stands  crowned  with  the  frosts  of  almost  a  cen- 
tury, waiting  his  welcome  to  the  spirit-laud.  Tasker,  vigorous 
and  rosy  then  as  the  morning  light  of  June,  now  plumed  like  a 
patriarch  and  preserved  like  a  seer,  waits  the  inevitable  call  with 
holy  joy  that  shall  introduce  him  into  the  New  Jerusalem  above. 
The  other  thirty-eight  have  gone  up,  wrapped  in  the  panoply 
of  immortality,  and  enrolled  among  the  victorious  conquerors  of 
the  King  of  saints ;  they  have  put  on  their  diadem  of  eternal 
conquest,  and  their  crown  of  unfading  glory,  and  are  lifting  their 
glad  hosannas  of  never-ceasing  praise  to  the  "King  eternal,  im- 
mortal, invisible,  the  only  wise  God,  who  hath  immortality  dwel- 
ling in  light,  to  whom  be  honor  and  power  everlasting.  Amen." 
A  historian  of  subsequent  times,  noted  for  his  correctness 
in  detail,  and  graphic,  and  interesting  description  of  events, 
and  things,  writes  thus  of  the  West  Jersey  District  at  the 
time  when  Mr.  Pitman  entered  upon  it  as  Presiding  Elder : 
"The  condition  of  the  church  in  all  that  region  was  low. 
Methodism,  indeed,  in  many  parts  of  the  district,  had  scarcely 
a  name.  Calvinistic  churches  were  scattered  here  and  there 
throughout  the  territory,  and,  even  where  there  was  no  regular 
church  organization,  the  people  held  largely  to  Calvinistic  sen- 
timents. Here,  then,  was  a  vast  and  magnificent  field  for  the 
exercise  of  his  popular  talents,  and  the  dissemination  of  the  doc- 
trines of  Methodism — doctrines  which  were  embalmed  in  his 


CONDITION   OF  DISTRICT.  73 

soul  by  a  blessed  experience,  and  cherished  by  his  intellect,  as 
giving  the  only  true  exposition  of  the  word  of  God. 

"  Never  did  a  man  go  forth  better  qualified  by  natural  en- 
dowments and  gracious  influences,  for  the  work  to  which  he  had 
been  called.  During  the  eight  years  of  his  previous  ministry, 
his  mind  had  been  enlarged  by  careful  discipline  and  study  his 
elocution  was  at  times,  and  especially  on  great  occasions,  over- 
mastering and  resistless,  his  piety  sincere  and  deep,  all  of  which, 
when  added  to  his  official  position,  gave  him  an  influence  almost 
unbounded.  He  went  to  his  district,  not  only  like  a  son  of 
thunder,  striking  terror  to  the  souls  of  ecclesiastical  opponents, 
but  like  the  silver-mouthed  Apollos,  soothing  the  sorrows  of 
the  penitent  and  gladdening  the  hearts  of  Christians,  until  tears 
of  holy  joy  fell  in  showers  like  summer  rain. 

"  During  the  camp-meeting  season,  when  it  was  known  that 
he  was  to  preach,  the  whole  country  for  many  miles  would  be 
on  the  move.  Not  infrequeutly  he  would  have  five,  six  or  even 
seven  thousand  persons,  to  hear  him  on  such  occasions.  His 
audiences,  were  often  chained  to  the  spot  for  two  hours  and  a 
half  at  a  time,  forgetful  of  everything,  but  the  great  theme  of 
the  redemption  of  a  lost  world  upon  which  he  dwelt.  Towards 
the  latter  part  of  his  sermon,  unconsciously  and  instinctively,  the 
people  would  rise,  one  after  another,  until  the  whole  congrega- 
tion were  on  their  feet,  and  when  he  finished,  it  was  difficult  to 
distinguish  between  the  rejoicing  of  Christians,  and  the  weeping 
of  awakened  sinners.  It  would  seem  as  if  heaven  had  been 
drawn  down  to  earth,  or  earth  had  been  lifted  up  to  heaven. 
At  one  of  these  great  gatherings  in  the  pines  of  lower  Jersey, 
he  preached  three  times  with  such  remarkable  power,  that  three 
hundred  and  sixty  professed  conversion. 

"  He  held  a  meeting  at  Cape  May  Court  House  before  there 
was  any  society  formed  in  that  neighborhood,  and  so  powerfully 
were  the  people  wrought  upon  that  he  dismissed  them  three 
times  before  they  would  leave  the  place. 


74  LIFE  OF   REV.   CHARLES   PITMAN,   D.D. 

"His  quarterly  meetings  were  seasons  of  so  much  interest 
that  persons  often  traveled  all  night  in  order  to  be  present,  and 
his  congregations  were  composed  of  all  classes  of  the  commu- 
nity. The  rich  and  the  poor,  the  learned  and  the  unlearned, 
met  together,  and  were  alike  moved  to  penitence  and  prayer. 

"  The  present  prosperous  condition  of  the  churches  in  West 
Jersey  is,  in  a  large  measure,  attributable  to  him,  and  through 
all  that  region  he  was  peerless  in  his  power, — and  his  name 
to  this  day  is  a  synonym  for  all  that  is  grand  and  glorious,  in 
our  Methodistic  Zion."*  Where  twelve  circuits  and  stations 
covered  the  territory  embraced  in  his  district,  are  now  three 
districts  and  the  larger  part  of  a  fourth,  constituting  nearly  the 
entire  bounds  of  an  Annual  Conference,  and  embracing  nearly 
two  hundred  circuits  and  stations,  with  a  membership  of  thirty- 
eight  thousand,  six  hundred  and  eighty-two,  and  nearly  five 
thousand  probationers. 

It  may  be  of  interest  for  our  readers  to  know  of  some  of  the 
principal  appointments,  on  the  West  Jersey  District,  at  the  time 
when  Mr.  Pitman  was  closing  his  labors  as  presiding  elder. 
They  were  as  follows:  Burlington,  Trenton,  Crosswicks,  Free- 
hold, Manahawkin,  Tuckerton,  Good  Luck,  Tom's  River,  Long 
Branch,  Attleborough,  Bethany,  Red  Bank,  Camden,  Wood- 
bury,  Chew's  Landing,  Paulsboro',  Haddonfield,  Bethel,  Union, 
Black  wood  town,  Lumberton,  Medford,  Mount  Holly,  Pember- 
ton,  Juliastown,  Wrightstown,  New  Egypt,  Emley's  Hill,  At- 
sion,  Wrangleboro',  Cape  May,  C.  H.  Dennis's,  Port  Elizabeth, 
Bargaintown,  Egg  Harbor,  Tuckahoe,  Estills,  Pleasant  Mills, 
Green  Bank,  Weymouth,  Tabernacle,  Port  Republic,  May's 
Landing,  Absecon,  Cumberland  and  Gloucester,  Bridgeton, 
Fairfield,  Fork  Mills,  Pittsgrove,  Broad  Neck,  Mauricetown, 
Dividing  Creek,  Millville,  Salem,  Salem  Circuit,  Sharptown, 
Allowaystown,  Peun's  Neck,  Swing's  Corner  and  Pilesgrove. 

These  appointments  embraced  the  principal  work  of  the  dis- 

*  Rev.  E.  H.  Stokes,  D.D.,  Conference  Memorial,  pages  248-250. 


QUARTERLY   AND   REVIVAL   MEETINGS.  75 

trict,  and  the  usual  number  of  quarterly  visitations  were  about 
twenty,  at  which,  as  circumstances  would  permit,  he  gener- 
ally preached  twice,  and  the  number  of  sermons  preached  in  the 
district  during  the  year  were  from  one  hundred  and  fifty  to  two 
hundred.  This  indicates  that  the  regular  preaching  appoint- 
ments on  an  average  were  not  less  than  two  each  week,  and 
sometimes  he  would  fill  in  one  or  two,  in  the  intermediate  time 
of  his  quarterly  meetings,  for  wherever  he  stopped  for  the  night 
in  his  journeyings  from  one  quarterly  appointment  to  another, 
he  would,  if  practicable,  have  the  people  called  together  for  a 
service  in  the  evening,  and  it  was  in  this  way,  that  his  influence 
became  so  powerful,  and  was  so  wonderfully  felt  among  the  peo- 
ple of  his  district ;  and  many  of  the  smaller  appointments  re- 
ceived the  benefit  of  his  ministrations,  where  it  would  have  been 
impossible,  for  the  accommodation  and  entertainment,  of  the 
masses  to  attend  the  quarterly  meetings;  and  thus  hundreds, 
and  even  thousands,  heard  him  more  frequently,  than  if  they 
were  dependent  for  the  opportunity  at  his  stated  quarterly  visi- 
tations. Revival  meetings  were  quickened,  and  made  occasions 
of  wonderful  interest  by  his  presence  and  ministrations.  He 
was  fully  alive  to  all  the  interests  of  his  work,  and  prosecuted  it 
with  an  energy  and  determination,  that  made  it  truly  great  and 
effective,  in  building  up  the  cause  of  Christ  among  the  people. 

As  has  been  seen,  the  selling  of  books,  formed  a  very  im- 
portant part  of  the  business  and  duty  of  a  Presiding  Elder,  in 
Mr.  Pitman's  time,  the  question  may  arise  in  the  mind  of  the 
reader  as  to  what  necessitated  this  onerous  duty  of  a  Presiding 
Elder,  or  was  it  done  by  him,  as  a  means  of  securing  pecuniary 
advantage,  and  to  add  to  his  meagre  support  ?  Coincident  and 
concurrent  with  the  time  of  the  origin,  and  formation  of  the  M. 
E.  Church,  in  this  country,  our  fathers  saw  the  necessity  of  a 
pure  and  healthy  religious  literature,  as  being  a  valuable  and 
efficient  auxiliary  in  promoting  spiritual  life,  and  doctrine,  among 
our  people,  as  well  as  their  edification  and  up-building,  in 


76  LIFE   OF   REV.   CHARLES   PITMAN,   D.D. 

knowledge,  and  a  right,  and  intelligent  understanding  of  the 
principles,  and  systems  of  doctrine,  and  church  government, 
would  be  productive  of  greater  good  and  give  a  more  perma- 
nent character  to  the  work  and  cause  of  Christianity  among  the 
people. 

Hence  the  question  in  regard  to  the  printing  and  circulating 
of  books,  and  the  profits  arising  therefrom,  became  a  matter  of 
discussion  and  action  with  the  church  as  early  as  the  year  1787. 
The  subject  was  then  introduced  into  the  discipline  in  the  fol- 
lowing paragraph  :  "  As  it  has  been  frequently  recommended  by 
the  preachers  and  people  that  such  books"  (alluding  to  Mr. 
Wesley's  books  and  others),  "  are  wanted  to  be  printed  in  this 
country,  we  therefore  propose," 

(1.)  "That  the  advice  of  the  conference  shall  be  desired 
concerning  any  valuable  impression,  and  their  consent  be  ob- 
tained before  any  step  be  taken  for  the  printing  thereof." 

(2.)  "  That  the  profits  of  the  books,  after  all  necessary  ex- 
penses are  defrayed,  shall  be  applied,  according  to  the  discretion 
of  the  conference  towards  the  college  (Cokesbury  College,  which 
was  our  first  educational  institution  in  America),  the  preachers' 
fund,  the  deficiencies  of  the  preachers,  the  distant  missions,  or 
the  debts  of  our  churches.  These  disciplinary  provisions  were 
modified  somewhat  by  the  conferences  from  1787  to  1800.  In 
1787  the  Book  Concern  was  projected,  and  started  on  a  borrowed 
capital  of  $600,  and  Rev.  John  Dickens  was  subsequently  ap- 
pointed book  agent,  with  Henry  Willis,  Thomas  Haskins  and 
the  preacher  who  was  to  be  stationed  in  Philadelphia  from  time 
to  time,  were  the  book  committee." 

"In  1800  the  whole  system  was  remodeled,  and  Rev.  Ezekiel 
Cooper  was  appointed  the  superintendent  of  the  'Book  Con- 
cern,' and  to  whom  was  given  the  authority  to  regulate  the  pub- 
lications, and  all  other  parts  of  the  business,  according  to  the 
state  of  the  finances  from  time  to  time,  making  it  obligatory 
upon  him  to  inform  the  Annual  Conferences  if  any  of  the 


DUTY  OF  PRESIDING  ELDER  IX  RELATION  TO  BOOKS.        77 

preachers  or  private  members  of  the  society  neglect  to  make  due 
payment,"  etc. 

The  next  clause  under  this  head  made  it  the  duty  of  every 
Presiding  Elder — where  no  book-steward  was  appointed — to  see 
that  his  district  be  fully  (or  well)  supplied  with  books,  and  it 
was  made  obligatory  upon  him — i.e.,  his  duty — to  order  such 
books  as  were  wanted,  and  to  give  direction  to  whose  care  they 
were  to  be  sent,  and  he  was  to  take  the  oversight  of  all  the  books 
sent  into  his  district,  and  to  account  for  the  same.  He  also  was 
to  have  books  distributed  among  the  several  circuits  of  his  dis- 
trict, and  was  to  keep  an  account  with  each  preacher  who  re- 
ceived or  sold  books,  and  to  receive  the  money  and  forward  it  to 
the  superintendent  or  book  steward. 

It  was  also  the  duty  of  every  preacher  who  had  charge  of  a 
circuit  "  to  see  that  his  circuit  was  duly  supplied  with  books," 
and  to  take  charge  of  all  the  books  which  were  sent  to  him  from 
time  to  time,  and  he  was  to  account  to  the  Presiding  Elder  for 
the  same,  and  when  books  were  sent  to  distant  places  the  Presid- 
ing Elder  or  preacher  was  allowed  to  put  a  small  additional  price 
on  such  books  as  would  best  bear  it,  in  order  to  pay  the  expense 
of  freight  or  transportation.  Thus  the  book  business  became  an 
important  part  of  the  work,  of  both  a  Presiding  Elder,  and  a 
traveling  preacher,  and  though  some  changes  have  been  made  in 
the  methods  of  carrying  out  the  work,  the  church  has  never  re- 
linquished the  obligation  of  our  preachers  from  acting  as  book- 
agents  for  our  publications,  "  or  of  keeping  the  societies  well 
supplied  with  books." 

Another  section  in  the  same  chapter  from  which  we  gather 
the  afore-mentioned  information  says  of  the  printing  of  books, 
and  the  application  of  the  profits  arising  therefrom,  "  It  is  of 
equal  importance  in  the  consideration  of  this  question.  The 
promulgation  of  religious  knowledge  by  means  of  the  press  is 
next  in  importance  to  the  preaching  of  the  gospel.  To  supply 
the  people,  therefore,  with  the  most  pious  and  useful  books,  in 


78  LIFE   OF   REV.    CHARLES   PITMAN,    D.D. 

order  that  they  may  fill  up  their  leisure  hours  in  the  most  prof- 
itable way,  is  an  object  worthy  of  the  deepest  attention  of  their 
pastors.  On  this  account  we  are  determined  to  move  in  the 
most  cautious  manner  in  respect  to  our  publications.  The  books 
of  infidelity  and  profaneness,  with  which  our  country  at  present 
abounds,  demand  our  strongest  exertions  to  counteract  their  per- 
nicious influence,  and  every  step  shall  be  taken  which  is  consist- 
ent with  our  finances  to  furnish  our  friends,  from  time  to  time 
with  the  most  useful  treatises  on  every  branch  of  religious 
knowledge,  and  the  consideration  of  all  the  profits  shall  be 
pledged  to  our  chartered  fund,  for  the  benefit  of  the  distressed 
preachers,  both  traveling  and  superannuated,  will,  we  trust, 
prove  a  considerable  additional  inducement  to  our  brethren  to 
purchase  our  books." 

It  will  be  readily  seen  from  these  extracts  from  Bishop  Em- 
ory's "  History  of  the  Discipline"  what  judicious  care,  what 
deep  and  heartfelt  interest  our  fathers  had  in  disseminating  re- 
ligious knowledge,  and  circulating  a  literature,  that  would  be 
both  food  to  the  soul  and  intelligence  to  the  brain.  The  wise 
discrimination,  was  highly  commendable,  and  exhibits  the  sound 
wisdom  and  good  judgment  of  the  men  of  those  times,  as  well 
as  shows  how  thoroughly  the  church  was  alive  to  the  educa- 
tional advantages  and  evangelism  of  those  times,  and  thus  min- 
isters and  church  officers  became  an  important  medium  through 
which,  and  by  which  this  great  work  was  to  be  accomplished. 


CHAPTER    VI. 

MR.    PITMAN    APPOINTED    PRESIDING     ELDER     OF     THE     EAST 
JERSEY   DISTRICT. 

IN  the  spring  of  1830,  at  the  session  of  the  Philadelphia 
Conference,  which  that  year  met  in  the  city  of  Philadel- 
phia, Mr.  Pitman,  having  filled  the  regular  time  of  appoint- 
ment for  a  Presiding  Elder  on  a  district  (viz.  four  years),  was 
changed  from  the  West  Jersey  District  and  appointed  by 
Bishop  Hedding,  Presiding  Elder  of  what  was  then  known  as  the 
East  Jersey  District,  and  which  included  all  that  part  of  the 
State  lying  above  the  north  line  of  the  West  Jersey  District, 
and  extending  beyond  the  northerly  lines  of  the  State  separating 
New  Jersey  from  New  York,  to  what  is  now  known  as  the 
northerly  line  of  the  Newark  Conference,  extending  westerly  to 
Hamburg  and  Green  Mountains,  down  Rockaway  Valley  to 
Morristown,  and  thence  southerly,  including  Somerset  and  por- 
tions of  Hunterdon  Counties,  down  to  the  line  of  the  West 
Jersey  District,  and  extending  eastward,  including  Staten 
Island.  The  section  of  country  west  of  this  district  embraced 
what  was  then  called  Asbury  District,  Warren  and  Sussex 
Counties,  with  some  portions  of  Pennsylvania. 

It  seems  from  a  small  memorandum  book  kept  by  Mr.  Pit- 
man of  his  wprk  and  appointments,  that  Trenton  Station,  Tren- 
ton Circuit  and  Freehold  Circuit  were  taken  from  the  West 
Jersey  District,  that  year,  and  added  to  the  East  Jersey  District, 
as  they  appear  in  this  minute  book  kept  by  him  of  his  quarterly 
meeting  appointments  on  both  districts. 

"  This  was  another  vast  territory  in  this  State,"  says  an  afore- 
mentioned author  "  in  which  Methodism,  though  in  some  locali- 

79 


80  LIFE   OF   REV.   CHARLES   PITMAN,    D.D. 

ties  was  comparatively  strong,  had  in  many  places  only  a  feeble 
and  sickly  existence,  being  overshadowed  by  its  old,  well-organ- 
ized, wealthy  and  influential  rival — the  various  Calvinistic 
Churches." 

"  Here  in  this  field,  too,  '  like  causes  produced  like  results/ 
with  those  which  had  been  realized  in  the  West  Jersey  District. 
Mr.  Pitman's  quarterly  visitations  and  camp-meeting  occasions 
were  still  seasons  of  great  interest  and  spiritual  power.  At  all 
these  meetings  there  were  marked  displays  of  the  divine  pres- 
ence. And  the  eloquence  and  tears  of  Mr.  Pitman,  like  a 
swelling  flood,  swept  down  all  opposition,  and  left  him  an  in- 
tellectual and  spiritual  giant,  sole  master  of  the  field."  *  His 
very  name  was  potent  for  good,  and  such  was  the  confidence 
which  the  people  had  in  him,  and  such  was  his  geniality  of  disT 
position,  amiableness  of  nature,  and  purity  of  Christian  charac- 
ter, that  the  very  name  Pitman  became  a  synonym  for  goodness, 
and  having  such  unbounded  influence,  carefully,  yet  earnestly, 
courageously,  yet  calmly,  zealously,  yet  considerately,  did  he 
wield  it  for  the  good  of  souls  and  the  up-building  of  the  church 
of  God,  and  without  a  murmur  of  complaint  at  the  hardships  he 
was  called  to  undergo,  he  was  faithful  in  his  work,  diligent  in 
his  Master's  service,  and  made  it  a  point  of  conscience,  as  well 
as  of  duty,  to  be  at  every  appointment,  and  discharge  his  duty 
there  in  the  fear  of  God.  And  God  owned  his  labor,  and 
crowned  it  with  glorious  success,  for  he  saw  its  fruits  in  every 
place  he  visited,  and  his  preaching  seemed  to  add  a  wonderful 
impetus  to  the  spiritual  interests  of  the  people,  and  gave  the 
church  a  wide-spread  influence,  in  every  community  where  he 
labored. 

The  following  were  the  appointments  on  the  district :  New 
Brunswick  Station,  Freehold  Circuit,  Trenton  Station,  Trenton 
Circuit,  Essex  Circuit,  Morristown  Station,  Bloomfield  Circuit, 
Bellville  Station,  Newark  Station,  Elizabethtown  Station,  Rah- 

*Kev.  E.  H.  Stokes,  D.D.,  Conference  Memorial,  page  250. 


PRESIDING   ELDER   OF  THE   EAST   JERSEY   DISTRICT.        81 

•way  Station,  Staten  Island  Circuit,  New  Providence  Station, 
Somerset  Mission  and  Bergen  Neck  Mission.  These  appoint- 
ments numbering  seven  circuits  and  nine  stations,  embraced  the 
larger  part  of  the  State  of  New  Jersey  and  the  territory,  of 
what  is  now  known  to  be  included  within  six  Conference  Dis- 
tricts. And  without  the  faculties  which  the  present  day  affords 
for  travelling,  Mr.  Pitman  made  these  long  journeys  over  hill 
and  down  dale,  across  broad  waters,  amid  inclement  and  unpro- 
pitious  atmospheres,  defying  summers  heat  and  winter's  cold,  to 
attend  to  his  work  as  Presiding  Elder,  and  meeting  regularly  his 
engagements  on  these  seven  circuits  and  in  these  nine  stations, 
laboring  to  build  up  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  giving  a  vigilant 
superintendence  to  the  general  work,  on  a  salary  hardly  equal- 
ing what  is  now  paid  in  a  third  or  fourth  rate  appointment,  on 
some  portions  of  that  same  district. 

The  first  appointment  which  heads  the  list  of  the  East  Jersey 
District  is  New  Brunswick  Station,  and  the  first  quarterly 
meeting  which  Mr.  Pitman  held  after  his  appointment  as  pre- 
siding elder  of  East  Jersey  District  was  at  New  Brunswick, 
May  1st  and  2d,  1830.  As  we  have  given  an  account  of  this 
place,  and  its  interest  to  Methodism,  when  Mr.  Pitman  was 
stationed  there  as  preacher  in  charge,  we  need  not  detain  our 
readers  with  further  detail.  The  names  of  the  officiary  of  New 
Brunswick  Station  at  that  time  (1830)  were  R.  Anderson,  local 
preacher;  and  William  Owens,  Samuel  Pitman,  William  B. 
Potts,  exhorters;  and  Jacob  Edmunds,  Aaron  Slack,  Robert 
Miller,  William  B.  Potts,  leaders ;  and  Robert  Miller,  John  H. 
Speer,  William  Packer,  Jacob  Edmunds,  Aaron  Slack  were  the 
stewards. 

The  next  in  order  in  the  list  of  appointments  is  Freehold  Cir- 
cuit. As  this  circuit  was  formerly  attached  to  the  West  Jersey 
District,  and  was  made  a  part  of  the  East  Jersey  District 
at  the  Conference  held  in  Philadelphia,  April  14,  1830, 
and  as  an  account,  also,  has  been  given  of  it  in  our 
6 


82  LIFE   OP   REV.    CHARLES   PITMAN,    D.D. 

description  of  the  appointments  of  the  West  Jersey  Dis- 
trict, we  may  omit  any  further  allusion  to  it,  excepting  to 
note  a  change  in  the  officiary.  Francis  Murphy,  Samuel 
Throckinorton,  William  Baker  and  Samuel  Hill  are  advan- 
ced to  the  rank  of  local  preachers,  and  Hendrick  Vandine, 
James  Miller,  Richard  Parker  and  Ezekiel  Craven  were  added 
to  the  former  list  of  exhorters,  and  Joseph  Parker,  Benjamin 
Brown,  Joseph  Goodenough,  Benjamin  King,  William  Murphy, 
Abraham  Herbert,  James  Martin,  David  Hall,  Joseph  Bowne 
and  Richard  Longstreet  were  added  to  the  list  of  leaders,  the 
stewards  remaining  as  formerly. 

The  next  appointment  in  the  list  of  Quarterly  Visitations  is 
Trenton  Station.  This  being  taken  from  the  West  Jersey  Dis- 
trict and  added  to  the  East  Jersey  District,  as  was  Freehold 
Circuit,  and  reference  having  already  been  made  to  it,  we  need 
only  note  the  changes  made  in  the  officiary  by  additional  mem- 
bers. Joseph  A.  Yard,  Charles  Sutterly,  Elias  Wampole  and 
John  V.  Sterling  were  now  the  exhorters,  and  James  Skirm, 
George  Chetle,  Daniel  Fenton  and  Samuel  Phillips  re-inforced 
the  corps  of  leaders ;  the  stewards'  names  are  the  same  as  for- 
merly. 

The  next  appointment  on  the  quarterly  plan  is  Trenton  Cir- 
cuit. This  embraced  Pennington,  River  church,  Lambertville, 
Princeton,  Allentown,  Clarksborough,  Crosswicks,  Bordentown 
and  Three  Tuns  (now  Hedding),  including  that  section  of  country 
lying  north-cast  and  south-east  of  Trenton,  and  forming  one  of 
the  most  extensive  circuits  of  the  district,  and  John  Fidler, 
David  James  and  Robert  Hutchinson  were  local  elders,  and 
Ezekiel  Robbins,  William  Foster  and  Solomon  Wyatt  were 
local  deacons;  James  Dougherty,  Samuel  Chambers,  Ralph 
Stout,  Thomas  Lovel,  Daniel  Bowman,  Israel  Pearce,  Amos 
Merscilles  and  Thomas  Addis,  were  local  preachers,  and  James 
Bunn,  John  Knowles,  James  S.  Wykoff,  James  McCabe,  John 
Dickson,  David  Bowman,  Thomas  Sill,  Joseph  B.  Kirkpatrick, 


TRENTON   AND   ESSEX  CIRCUIT.  83 

William  McCabe,  Allen  Thompson,  William  Potts  and  Charles 
H.  Brittain,  were  exhorters :  Charles  Johnson,  Asher  Hankinson, 
Tunis  Service,  Samuel  Atkinson,  Charles  Beatty,  Charles  Brit- 
tain,  William  Potts,  William  McCabe,  David  Bowman,  John 
Knowles,  Israel  Pearce,  William  Vanschoick,  John  Huffman, 
Nathaniel  McGoinegal,  John  Dickson,  Joseph  Vankirk  and 
William  Mathews  were  leaders,  and  John  H.  Rulon,  James 
McCabe,  Joseph  Bunn,  William  Foster,  Ezekiel  Bobbins,  Staten 
Jefferies  and  Joakin  Hill  were  the  stewards. 

As  Trenton  Circuit,  in  course  of  time,  had  grown  and  become 
very  large,  soon  after  Mr.  Pitman's  appointment  to  the  district, 
all  that  section  of  country  east  of  Trenton,  embracing  Allen- 
town,  Hightstown,  Crosswicks,  Clarksburg,  Recklesstown,  New 
Egypt  and  other  places  up  to  the  line  of  Freehold  Circuit,  was 
set  off,  and  it  was  called  Crosswicks  Circuit.  Its  officiary  were : 
David  James  and  Robert  Hutchinson,  local  elders,  and  Ezekiel 
Robbins,  William  Foster  and  Solomon  Wyatt,  local  deacons; 
Samuel  Chambers,  Thomas  Lovel,  David  Bowman  and  Israel 
Pearce,  local  preachers,  and  James  McCabe,  John  Dickson, 
William  McCabe,  Allen  Thompson  and  Charles  H.  Brittain 
were  exhorters,  and  Charles  Johnson,  Abner  Hankinson,  Wil- 
liam McCabe,  James  McCabe,  William  Vanschoick,  John  Huff- 
man and  John  Dickson  were  the  leaders,  and  John  H.  Rulon, 
James  McCabe,  William  Foster,  Staten  Jeffrey,  Charles  John- 
son and  Enoch  Knowles  were  stewards. 

Essex  Circuit  comes  next  on  the  list,  and  embraced  the  follow- 
ing appointments :  Springfield,  Middleville,  Camptown,  Whip- 
pany,  Parsippany,  Verona,  Hopewell,  Chatham,  Dennville, 
Peapack,  Mendham,  Madison,  Rockaway  Valley,  Germantown, 
Mount  Horeb,  Bound  Brook,  P.  Dickinson  (private  house), 
Union  Village,  Wood  bridge  and  Perth  Amboy.  The  first 
Methodist  Society  was  formed  in  Madison  in  1828,  by  Rev.  D. 
Bartine,  Sr.,  with  Thomas  Sovereign,  colleague,  who  travelled 
Essex  Circuit  that  year,  and  Thomas  Sovereign  preached  the 


84  LIFE   OF   REV.   CHARLES   PITMAN,   D.D. 

first  sermon  that  was  preached  in  that  place  by  a  Methodist 
preacher. 

The  officiary  at  that  time  were  John  Hancock,  Joshua  Birch, 
local  elders,  and  Henry  Clark,  Elam  Genung  were  local  deacons, 
and  Henry  S.  Cook,  Henry  R.  Hedges,  John  Edwards,  Enoch 
Reed,  Lorain  Rood  and  Mulford  Day  were  local  preachers,  and 
Samuel  R.  Wilson,  Jacob  Demouth,  Ralph  Smith,  William 
Shauger,  Ebenezer  Pruden,  Elihu  B.  Mott,  John  Warner,  David 
Coddington,  Philemon  Dickerson,  John  Sherman,  Jacob  Nichols, 
Aristides  J.  Heustis  were  exhorters,  and  Thomas  Eddy,  Peter 
Moore,  Mathias  Swain,  Henry  Miller,  Jacob  Winget,  Jacob 
King,  John  Sherman,  Ingham  Kinsey,  Benjamin  Weed,  John 
Bryant,  John  W.  Hancock,  David  Sandford,  Moses  Brookfield* 
Daniel  B.  Tunis,  Luther  Novice,  Mulford  Day,  Richardson 
Grey,  Elam  Drake  were  leaders,  and  Isaac  Beach,  Ralph  Smith, 
Elam  Genung,  John  P.  Cooke,  Osborn  Scudder  were  the  stewards. 

The  next  on  the  list  of  quarterly  appointments  is  Morristown. 
This  was  an  old  land-mark  of  Methodism,  and  became  a  regular 
station  in  1829,  Rev.  N.  Porter  being  the  first  preacher  ap- 
pointed to  the  place,  after  it  was  separated  from  Essex  Circuit, 
who  remained  one  year,  and  in  1830  Rev.  John  Potts  was  ap- 
pointed as  the  preacher  for  that  Conference  year.  The  officiary 
were  Oliver  Badgeley  and  Isaac  Bird,  local  preachers,  and 
Moses  Hatfield,  Hiram  G.  McCoswick,  Benjamin  A.  Sherwood, 
Zetus  Searles,  James  Cook  and  James  H.  James  were  the  ex- 
horters, and  James  Cook,  Moses  Hatfield,  Hiram  G.  McCor- 
mick,  Samuel  T.  Dickinson,  James  H.  James,  Charles  Crowell, 
James  Brown,  Mark  Disosway,  William  Hilton  were  the  leaders, 
and  James  Cook,  William  Knight,  James  H.  James,  Moses 
Hatfield,  James  Brown,  Job  Brookfield  and  Ebenezer  Condit 
were  the  stewards. 

The  next  on  the  list  of  appointments  is  Bloomfield  Circuit ;  it 
embraced  all  that  section  of  country  north  of  Newark,  lying  be- 
tween the  Passaic  River  and  Orange  Mountain,  including 


EXTRACT  FROM  CHRISTIAN  ADVOCATE  SUPPLEMENT         85 

Orange  and  several  appointments  along,  and  beyond  the  moun- 
tain, and  extended  up  to  Paterson  and  thence  down  the  Passaic 
River  to  Bellville. 

Mr.  Henry  Wilde,  of  Newark,  N.  J.,  speaking  of  this  circuit  in 
the  Christian  Advocate  Supplement,  January  6th,  1887,  says : 

"  When  Edmund  S.  Janes  left  his  school  in  Bloomfield  to  join  the 
Conference,  his  twin  brother,  Edwin  L.  Janes,  took  his  place,  and  soon 
followed  in  the  steps  of  his  brother.  I  well  remember  his  examination 
when  he  applied  for  license  to  preach.  Rev.  Charles  Pitman  had  been 
appointed  presiding  elder  on  the  district.  The  Quarterly  Conference 
was  held  in  the  church  in  Fairfield.  The  elder  remarked  before  the  ex- 
amination, 'The  doors  to  the  entrance  into  the  ministry  had  been  opened 
too  wide,  and  he  intended  to  be  more  particular  in  granting  license  to 
preach.'  This  had  a  rather  depressing  influence  on  the  young  man.  He 
was  a  little  embarrassed.  I  could  see  the  tears  start  in  his  eyes,  and  he 
said  :  '  Will  you  allow  me,  sir,  to  refer  to  some  notes  I  have  with  me? ' 
The  elder  replied:  '  O  yes,  I  am  glad  you  have  them.'  The  examination 
was  very  satisfactory  and  the  license  granted. 

"  Brother  Winner  had  labored  hard  on  the  circuit,  giving  special  atten- 
tion to  Orange.  He  seemed  determined  that  Methodism  should  have  a 
lodgment  there.  He  made  arrangements  to  build  a  church,  and  selected 
persons  from  Newark  and  Bloomfield  to  be  trustees,  with  two  in  Orange. 
At  the  ensuing  Conference,  Bellville  was  set  off  as  a  station,  and  Bloom- 
field  was  associated  with  Orange  and  a  few  other  appointments  east  of 
the  Orange  Mountain.  The  appointments  west  of  the  mountain  were 
annexed  to  another  circuit.  Methodism  continued  to  prosper  for  some 
time,  and  the  little  stone  church  had  become  too  small.  The  majority 
of  the  members  were  living  in  the  two  villages  of  Bloomfield  and  West 
Bloomfield,  and  on  the  avenue  connecting  the  two,  or,  more  properly 
speaking,  leading  from  one  to  the  other.  When  the  little  stone  church 
was  built  there  were  but  few  Methodists  in  Bloomfield,  and  they  were 
scattered  over  the  township.  The  location  was  supposed  to  be  most  con- 
venient for  all,  but  through  changes  of  business  and  addition  of  new 
members  it  became  necessary  to  build  a  larger  church  and  change  the 
location.  A  plot  of  ground  was  given,  fronting  on  the  avenue,  a  little 
east  of  the  upper  village  and  near  the  factories,  where  the  main  strength 
of  the  society  lay.  The  church  was  dedicated  in  the  fall  of  1836,  and 
seemed  a  grand  success.  Rev.  Charles  Pitman,  then  in  his  prime, 
preached  in  the  morning,  Rev.  John  Kennaday  in  the  afternoon  and 


86  LIFE   OP  REV.   CHARLES   PITMAN,    D.D. 

Rev.  Levi  Scott,  the  late  senior  Bishop  in  the  evening.  For  many  years 
Methodism  had  but  a  feeble  existence  in  this  vicinity,  and  her  doctrines 
were  but  lightly  esteemed.  The  old  Calvinistic  faith  and  horrible  de- 
crees seem  to  have  laid  fast  hold  upon  the  people.  Previous  to  the 
building  of  the  small  stone  church  there  had  been  preaching  at  the 
house  of  Naomi  Cakefair,  an  appointment  on  the  Haverstraw  and  Bergen 
Circuits.  Most  of  the  preachers  who  began  to  make  some  impression 
have  passed  away.  One  yet  lingers  in  Philadelphia,  the  Rev.  Anthony 
Atwood.  He  is  still  of  precious  memory  here.  He  was  on  the  circuit 
some  years  previous  to  the  date  first  given,  and  stirred  the  hearts  of  the 
people ;  afterward  stationed  in  Morristown,  and  had  a  wonderful  revival. 
It  was  then  deemed  necessary  to  strike  heavy  blows  at  old-fashioned 
Calvinism.  Pitman  was  especially  earnest,  and  could  hardly  deliver  a 
sermon  without  referring  to  it.  He  was  in  his  element  on  camp-meeting 
occasions.  I  recollect  one  of  his  outbursts  of  eloquence  at  a  camp-meet- 
ing more  than  fifty  years  ago.  After  setting  forth  what  he  considered 
the  absurdities  of  the  doctrine  and  its  evil  tendencies,  he  exclaimed, 
'  It  has  got  the  consumption,'  and,  turning  to  Dr.  Reese,  who  was  on  the 
platform,  he  said:  'There  is  no  cure  for  consumption,  is  there,  doctor?' 
He  answered  '  No,  when  well  seated.'  Then  the  preacher  said  :  '  The 
doctrine  must  die,  and  I  would  like  to  stand  upon  its  grave  and  preach 
its  funeral  sermon.'  When  I  think  of  Methodism  in  Bloomfield  fifty- 
eight  years  ago  and  now,  the  change  seems  marvelous.  There  has  been 
an  increase  of  stationed  preachers,  but  it  appears  a  decrease  in  the  num- 
ber of  local  preachers.  I  can  scarcely  find  one  of  my  old  associates. 
There  has  been  a  great  change  in  the  views  and  feelings  of  the  members 
of  other  churches,  and  I  sometimes  think  Methodism  has  done  as  much 
outside  as  within  her  organized  societies." 

The  names  of  Edwin  L.  Janes  and  John  Buckley  appear  on 
the  list  as  local  preachers,  and  John  N.  Crane,  William  D.  Beach, 
Robert  R.  Barnum  were  the  exhorters,  and  Josiah  Cramer,  Gur- 
line  Doremus,  James  McCracken,  Parker  Teeds,  Alfred  Moor- 
house,  Demas  Harrison,  Henry  Pierce,  Sr.,  Anthony  Miller, 
Richard  Kelsall,  Peter  Moore,  Robert  R.  Barnum,  John  Rad- 
cliff,  Henry  Wilde,  William  Bunnel,  Lucas  Baldwin,  Nathaniel 
Cort  and  James  Buckley  were  leaders,  and  Henry  Pierce,  Jr., 
Demas  Harrison,  Josiah  Crane,  Henry  Wilde,  Gurline  Dore- 
mus, Nathan  Harned,  Archibald  Lyon  were  the  stewards. 


BELLVILLE,  NEWARK  AND  ELIZABETH  STATIONS.  87 

The  next  appointment  is  Bellville  Station,  which  was  set  off 
from  Bloomfield  Circuit  in  1831,  and  made  a  separate  charge 
by  itself.  The  officiary  were  John  Dow,  local  elder,  and  Wil- 
liam M.  SanforcJ,  William  Lee,  John  Lee,  Calvin  Lathrop, 
George  Tucker,  Robert  Wakelin,  were  local  preachers,  and 
Jeremiah  T.  Brower,  Anthony  Brown,  were  exhorters,  and 
John  Lee,  Jeremiah  T.  Brower,  Anthony  Brown,  Abraham 
Coddington,  Stephen  Sargent  and  Pompey  Prall  (colored)  were 
leaders,  and  the  last  named  was  also  an  exhorter,  and  Jeremiah 
T.  Brower,  Ralph  Pomeroy,  Robert  Pine,  Calvin  Lathrop, 
John  Lee,  were  the  stewards. 

The  next  appointment  on  the  Quarterly  Meeting  list  is 
Newark  Station.  This  was  Halsey  Street  Church,  and  where 
the  first  session  of  the  New  Jersey  Conference  was  held  after 
being  set  off  from  the  Philadelphia  Conference  in  1836  as  a 
separate  Conference,  Bishop  Waugh  presiding,  April  26,  1837. 

During  Mr.  Pitman's  time  of  Presiding  Eldership  the  follow- 
ing are  the  names  of  the  officiary  of  Newark  Station  :  William 
Verdenburg  and  Johnson  Gould  were  local  elders,  and  Abraham 
C.  Smith,  Henry  T.  Hopkins,  Robert  Anderson,  were  local 
preachers,  and  Edward  W.  Mitchel,  John  S.  Swaim,  John  Van- 
name,  Jacob  Aber,  James  H.  Scribner,  were  exhorters,  and 
Harvey  Scribner,  Gilbert  Dudley,  E.  W.  Mitchel,  Reuben  Ed-' 
monds,  William  Murphy,  Henry  Dunster,  Abraham  C.  Smith, 
John  S.  Swaim,  John  Stephens,  William  S.  Scribner,  Johnson 
Smith,  Joseph  Law,  Henry  Hopkins,  John  Vanname,  William 
N.  Searles,  Abraham  Clarke,  Henry  Holden,  Jacob  Aber,  Elias 
Francis,  Robert  Anderson,  William  N.  Fitzgerald,  Daniel  D. 
Forkner,  George  D.  Sutton,  F.  A.  Francisco,  John  N.  Gould, 
were  the  leaders,  and  William  Murphy,  Noble  Barry,  George 
Cross,  Calvin  Tompkins,  John  W.  Inness,  John  Ailing,  were 
the  stewards. 

The  next  appointment  following  Newark  Station  is  "  Eliza- 
bethtown  "  Station  (now  called  Elizabeth).  Methodism  was  in- 


88  LIFE  OF  REV.   CHARLES   PITMAN,   D.D. 

troduced  into  this  place  about  the  year  1786,  when  Thomas 
Morrell,  father  of  the  late  Rev.  Francis  A.  Morrell,  of  the  New 
Jersey  Conference,  and  major  of  the  Fourth  New  Jersey  Brig- 
ade, of  marked  Revolutionary  fame,  retired  from  the  active 
duties  of  military  service,  and  began  to  preach  as  a  local 
preacher  in  Elizabeth,  then  known  as  "  Elizabethtown  "  Circuit, 
and  subsequently  entered  the  ranks  of  the  regular  itinerant 
ministry  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  During  Mr. 
Pitman's  administration  the  officiary  were  Francis  A.  Morrell 
and  Isaac  Bird,  local  preachers,  and  John  Vanname  and  Jacob 
Aber,  exhorters,  and  Jonathan  Chandeler  and  Robert  Wood- 
ruff, leaders ;  stewards  not  given. 

The  next  appointment  on  the  quarterly  plan  is  Rahway  Sta- 
tion. The  officiary  were  James  Bailey  and  Jeremiah  O.  Tuni- 
son,  who  were  local  preachers,  and  Charles  Stearns,  exhorter, 
and  William  H.  Smith,  Charles  Stearns,  Wesley  Robertson, 
Jeremiah  O.  Tunison  were  leaders,  and  John  Wilson,  Milan 
Ross,  James  Jaques,  William  H.  Smith,  Wesley  Robertson, 
James  Bailey,  Michael  Harned,  were  the  stewards. 

The  next  on  the  plan  is  Staten  Island  Circuit,  which  at  that 
time  embraced  all  of  Staten  Island.  The  principal  appointment 
was  Bethel,  and  Rev.  William  Lummis  was  preacher  in  charge. 
The  first  preacher  stationed  on  Staten  Island  was  Rev.  Thomas 
Drummond,  in  the  year  1810.  Though  Bishop  Asbury  preached 
there,  in  a  private  house,  in  1773,  and  several  times  afterwards, 
when  journeying  from  Philadelphia  to  New  York,  it  does  not 
seem  that  any  regular  appointment  was  made  before  1810.  It 
has  been  a  matter  of  much  inquiry,  as  well  as  of  some  curi- 
osity, how  it  came  to  pass  that  Staten  Island  is  included  within 
the  bounds  of,  and  under  the  control  of,  New  York  State,  while 
its  territory  is  so  much  nearer,  and  is  only  separated  by  a  small 
kill  or  sound  from  New  Jersey,  and  that,  while  it  is  included  in 
New  York  State,  it  should  have  been  attached  to  the  Old  New 
Jersey  Conference,  and  included  within  its  boundary,  and  is 


8TATEN   ISLAND   TEEEITOBY.  89 

now  a  part  of  the  Newark  Conference,  in  consequence  of  a  divi- 
sion of  the  New  Jersey  Conference  in  1854. 

"  In  1664,  Charles  II.  granted  to  his  brother,  Duke  of  York, 
all  that  territory  lying  between  the  Connecticut  and  Delaware 
rivers.  He  at  once  sent  expeditions  out  and  settled  Elizabeth- 
town  and  Newark,  with  Middletown  and  Shrewsbury,  in  Mon- 
mouth  County.  In  the  mean  time  he  sold  his  claim  west  of  the 
Hudson,  to  Lord  Berkeley  and  Sir  George  Carteret.  The 
boundary  was  not  specified  with  reference  to  Stateii  Island,  and 
the  proprietorship  became  a  doubtful  question,  although  the 
island  had  previously  been  held  by  the  Dutch  and  Swedes  as 
well  as  the  English  colonists.  Its  geographical  position,  it  was 
agreed,  allied  it  to  the  nearest  mainland,  while,  on  the  other 
hand,  it  was  maintained  that  the  waters  of  the  Hudson  flowed 
west  of  it.  The  Duke  of  York  finally  setted  it,  by  declaring 
that  all  the  islands  of  the  Hudson  that  could  be  encompassed 
within  a  day's  sail  belonged  to  him.  Captain  Billop,  a  favorite 
of  the  Duke,  accomplished  the  feat  in  the  ship  "Bentley,"  and, 
was  rewarded  for  the  service  with  the  gift  of  the  southern 
part  of  the  island  now  known  as  Bentley's  Manor.  Thus  the 
island,  so  unimportant  then,  was  wrested  from  New  Jersey,  and 
has  become  of  so  much  consequence  as  to  attract  the  attention 
not  only  of  legislators  but  of  congressmen  in  the  struggle  for 
right  of  way  to  it." 

It  is  the  home  of  some  of  the  wealthiest  men  of  this 
country,  whose  palatial  residences  skirt  the  whole  island,  to- 
gether with  its  inland  towns,  assuming  proportions  of  young 
cities,  give  it  a  picturesque  and  beautiful  appearance.  It  is  also 
the  final  resting-place  of  the  remains  of  some  of  New  York's 
princely  dead. 

The  officiary,  at  the  time  Mr.  Pitman  was  presiding  elder, 
were,  William  Cole,  local  elder ;  Charles  Price,  local  deacon ; 
and  James  Wood,  John  Wood,  and  Sylvanus  Decker  were  ex- 
horters ;  and  Daniel  Simmons  leader ;  and  Daniel  Crockeron, 


90  LIFE   OF   REV.    CHARLES   PITMAN,   D.D.' 

John  Hillyer,  Daniel  Simmons,  James  Wood,  Abraham  Anten, 
were  the  stewards. 

Staten  Island  contains  now  (1887)  the  following  appoint- 
ments :  Asbury,  Bethel,  Grace,  Kingsley,  Mt.  Zion,  St.  John's, 
St.  Mark's,  St.  Paul's,  Summerfield,  Trinity,  and  Woodrow, 
and  numbers  seventeen  hundred  and  eighty  members,  and  two 
hundred  and  twenty-six  probationers.  Methodism  has  a  firm 
hold  upon  the  hearts  of  the  people,  and  is  still  increasing  year 
after  year,  in  numbers,  wealth,  and  church  enterprises  and  ac- 
commodations. 

The  next  appointment  is  New  Providence  Station.  It  is  one 
of  the  oldest  appointments  in  northern  New  Jersey.  Mr.  Pit- 
man, during  his  term  of  presiding  eldership  on  the  East  Jersey 
District,  made  his  home  and  place  of  residence  at  New  Provi- 
dence, and  from  this  place,  would  be  gone  often  from  three  to 
four  weeks,  attending  his  quarterly  meetings,  and  the  duties  of 
his  district. 

The  officiary  were  Stephen  Day,  local  deacon ;  Benjamin 
Day,  local  preacher ;  and  Jonathan  Totten  and  Peter  D.  Day 
were  exhorters ;  and  Stephen  Day,  Jr.,  Jonathan  Totten  and 
Squire  Manning  were  leaders;  and  David  S.  Clark,  John 
Crane,  David  Wood,  Amos  Wilcox  and  Erastus  Crossfield  were 
the  stewards. 

Somerset  Mission,  which  comes  next,  seems  to  have  had  no 
distinct  organization,  and  was  supplied  by  local  preachers  from 
the  adjacent  circuits  and  charges.  As  also  was  Bergen  Neck 
Mission,  yet  Mr.  Pitman  made  regular  quarterly  visitations  to 
both  of  these  appointments. 

At  the  Philadelphia  Conference  which  met  at  Wilmington, 
Del.,  April  11,  1832,  Mr.  Pitman  was  elected  a  representative 
of  that  body  to  the  General  Conference  which  met  in  the  city  of 
Philadelphia,  on  the  first  day  of  May  of  that  year,  and  continued 
its  session  till  the  twenty-eighth  of  that  month.  In  this  Confer- 
ence some  important  changes  took  place  in  the  temporal  econo- 


CHURCH   OFFICERS   AND   EXHORTERS.  91 

my  of  the  church,  and  some  changes  in  discipline,  which  Mr. 
Pitman  took  an  important  part  in  advocating  and  establishing. 
He  believed  in  the  aggressive  spirit  of  Methodism,  but  was  a 
man  "  to  make  haste  slowly,"  in  adopting  changes  from  the 
sharp  and  incisive  methods  of  Wesley,  in  dealing  with  delin- 
quent church  members,  and  other  forms  of  church  government, 
and  consequently  changes  and  alterations  were  adopted  by  him, 
only  after  great  consideration,  and  often  after  quite  elaborate  de- 
bate. Our  fathers  laid  their  hands  carefully  on  established 
usages,  lest  in  adopting  the  new,  they  would  part  with  the  better, 
the  older  forms  of  government. 

Something  worthy  of  note  in  this  list  of  church  officers  and 
helpers,  is  the  large  corps  of  exhorters,  which  were  employed  in 
these  circuits  and  in  these  stations.  No  field  of  labor  seems  have 
been  without  them,  and  their  large  number  would  seem  to  indi- 
cate the  value  and  efficiency  of  that  office,  as  helpers  in  the  great 
moral  field  of  Christian  activity,  and  usefulness.  The  office,  we 
are  sorry  to  say,  has  almost  become  obsolete,  and  the  name  and 
character  of  this  earnest  and  energetic  soul-saver,  is  almost  ex- 
tinct in  the  annals  of  Quarterly  Conference  registers,  and  there 
are  in  this  day  hundreds  of  circuits  and  stations,  which,  in  an- 
swer to  the  question,  "  Who  are  the  exhorters?"  the  ominous  re- 
ply would  be,  "  We  have  none  ! "  and  in  some  official  boards 
the  character  of  the  office  is  entirely  unknown.  They  were  a 
power  in  the  early  days  of  Methodism,  and  Mr.  Pitman  found 
them  valuable  co-adjutors  and  helpers  in  his  widely  extended 
and  laborious  work,  in  such  districts  as  he  traveled,  and  they 
were  available  as  supplying  the  poorer  places  with  religious  ser- 
vices, and  were  eminently  instrumental  in  opening  up  new 
places  and  in  cultivating  new  fields  and  leading  thousands  of 
souls  to  Christ,  and  in  forming  those  nuclei  and  centres  which 
in  after  years,  have  developed  into  some  of  our  best  country  ap- 
pointments. Methodism  cannot  well  afford  to  lay  down  her  im- 
plements of  warfare,  or  relinquish  any  part  of  her  effective  agen- 


92  LIFE   OF   REV.    CHARLES   PITMAN,    D.D. 

cies  and  vitalizing  organizations.  Her  army  must  be  preserved 
intact,  and  her  soldiers  kept  equipped  in  the  field ;  and  every 
church  should  have  its  exhorters  and  local  preachers,  as  well  as 
stewards  and  leaders,  and  the  disciplinary  requirement  should 
be  faithfully  observed,  "  That  regular  and  systematic  employ- 
ment should  be  assigned  to  them,  either  by  the  Presiding  Elder 
or  preacher  in  charge,  and  not  send  the  office  in  the  street  or  in 
the  country  begging  for  work." 

What  an  intense  interest  clusters  around  the  names  of  each  of 
these  districts !  In  many,  if  not  in  the  most,  of  these  places, 
these  godly  men,  these  grand  old  heroes  of  Methodism  in  New 
Jersey,  were  the  founders,  of  hundreds  of  the  societies  that  now 
are  the  large  and  self-sustaining  churches,  in  the  bounds  of  these 
two  Conferences,  and  who  have  left  a  Methodistic  posterity  that 
have  been  distinguished  and  honored  by  their  connection  with 
such  a  royal  ancestry,  and  now  live  to  enjoy  that  royal  bounty, 
which  flowed  from  a  benevolence  and  pious  desire,  to  perpetuate 
the  church  of  Christ,  as  a  rich  legacy  of  love  to  their  children. 
They  desired  that  when  they  had  passed  from  the  stage  of  human 
action,  that  these  monuments  of  their  love  to  God  and  man,  would 
live  on,  and  bless  future  generations,  and  to-day  tens  of  thou- 
sands of  Christian  worshippers,  are  enjoying  the  benefits  of  the 
sacrifices  and  toils,  that  the  fathers  and  mothers  of  Methodism, 
made  in  this  country  fifty  and  sixty  years  ago,  and  whose  names 
are  well  deserving  a  place  in  connection  with  this  history,  and 
are  revered  as  precious  legacies  to  the  church.  They  justify  a 
pause,  and  a  record  here.  It  is  these  precious  thoughts,  that 
move  us  to  gratitude  and  praise  to  God,  that  we  have  been  hon- 
ored with  such  a  noble  and  distinguished  ancestry.  The  men  of 
those  times  were  our  fathers,  the  women  of  those  times  were  our 
mothers,  and  nobly  did  they  do  their  part  in  laying  the  founda- 
tions of  that  church  whose  distinguished  privileges  and  blessings 
we  now  enjoy.  Their  names  are  worthy  to  be  had  in  everlasting 
remembrance,  and  this  volume  is  monumental,  as  well  as  bio- 


APPOINTMENTS    BY   MR.    PITMAN.  93 

graphical,  to  their  memories ;  it  is  to  register  and  record  the 
valiant  and  noble  service  of  these  honored  saints  of  the  church 
of  God. 

While  we  have  given  the  names  of  the  preachers  and  the  offi- 
cial members  of  these  charges  and  circuits,  it  may  not  be  unin- 
teresting to  our  readers  to  know  the  preaching-places,  at  least 
some  of  the  more  prominent  places,  which  will  also  indicate 
the  early  history  of  Methodism  in  many  places  in  this  State.  A 
year's  labor  in  official  visitation  which  was  required  to  be  done 
quarterly,  of  Mr.  Pitman's  appointments  on  East  Jersey  Dis- 
trict, was  as  follows  :  New  Brunswick,  Bethany,  Trenton,  Allen- 
town,  Whippany,  Morristown,  Farfield,  Parsippany,  Bellville, 
Newark,  Elizabethtown,  Rahway,  Stateu  Island,  Long  Branch, 
Bordentown,  New  Germantown,  Centreville,  Haverstraw,  Union 
Village,  Flemington,  New  Providence,  Orange,  Hope  well,  Den- 
ville,  Bloomfield,  Plainfield,  Mount  Horeb,  Northfield,  French- 
town,  Quakertown,  Freehold,  Keyport,  Matteawan,  Long  Branch 
and  Harmony.  The  salary  received  for  this  labor  was  $451, 
one  dollar  in  excess  of  the  allowance,  and  traveling  expenses 
which  were  $75.11,  and  fuel,  $40,  making  a  total  for  a  year's 
receipts  to  be  $560.11. 

"  This  year  a  camp-meeting  was  held  near  Newton,  Sussex 
County.  Mr.  Pitman  was  a  stranger  in  that  mountainous  re- 
gion, but  his  popularity  had  preceded  him,  and  the  expectations 
were  great.  The  congregation  gathered  was  immense.  Law- 
yers, physicians,  judges,  men  of  wealth  and  influence  from  all 
parts  of  the  country,  came  to  hear  the  gospel  of  the  Son  of  God. 
The  preacher  seemed  to  have  special  qualifications  for  the  work 
before  him,  and  torrents  of  baptized  eloquence  fell  from  his  lips 
with  such  overmastering  power  that  strong  men  were  bowed 
to  the  earth  like  the  tempest-swept  forest,  and  multitudes  yielded 
to  be  saved. 

"  Many  persons  of  wealth  in  the  community,  supposing  money 
could  secure  all  they  might  desire,  made  large  offers  if  he  would 


94  LIFE   OF   REV.    CHARLES   PITMAN,   D.D. 

remain  and  preach  for  them  again.  But  he  had  his  work,  and 
no  offers  which  man  might  make  could  induce  him  to  turn  aside 
from  his  God-appointed  path." 

"During  the  summer  of  1831  a  camp-meeting  was  held  near 
New  Brunswick.  Charles  Pitman  preached  on  the  first  day  of 
August.  At  the  close  of  his  discourse  the  people  were  so  over- 
whelmed that  a  deathly  silence  prevailed  all  over  the  ground. 
Tears  copious  and  glistening  gushed  up  from  every  heart.  The 
heaven-inspired  minister  himself,  removed  almost  beyond  the 
power  of  utterance,  motioned  to  one  who  sat  near  him  to  pray. 
The  congregation  knelt,  and  for  five  minutes  not  a  voice  was 
heard.  Eventually,  a  prayer-meeting  was  commenced,  and  '  then 
came  a  sound  from  heaven,  as  of  a  rushing  mighty  wind.'  Be- 
lievers were  sanctified,  and  sinners  were  brought  to  the  foot  of 
the  cross.  Two  preachers,  Brothers  Petherbridge  and  Bull,  fell 
prostrate  to  the  ground,  and  lay  in  a  state  of  apparent  uncon- 
sciousness for  several  hours.  An  old  man  who  had  not  heard  a 
sermon  for  many  years,  led  hither  by  curiosity,  fell  beneath  the 
power  of  conviction,  yielded  to  be  saved  on  the  terms  of  the 
gospel,  was  blessed,  and  returned  home  rejoicing  in  hope  of 
future  glory.  And  '  so  mightily  grew  the  word  of  God  and 
prevailed.' " 

"  The  appointment  of  Mr.  Pitman  to  these  two  districts,  which 
at  that  time  occupied  almost  the  entire  State  of  New  Jersey, 
seemed  providential.  Our  young  and  growing,  but  in  many 
places  weak  and  feeble  Church  seemed  just  then  to  require  the 
presence  of  a  great  master-spirit,  who  could  arrest  the  attention 
of  the  masses,  and  then  move  and  mould,  and  direct  them 
for  the  glory  of  God.  Mr.  Pitman  was  that  master-spirit,  and 
for  seven  consecutive  years,  as  Presiding  Elder  on  these  two  dis- 
tricts, he  moved  and  moulded  the  entire  State  of  New  Jersey, 
Methodistically  as  no  man  ever  did,  and  probably  as  no  man  ever, 
will  again." 

"  During  these  years  thousands  were  added  to  the  Church,  and 


SUCCESS   ATTENDING   MR.    PITMAN'S   EFFORTS.  95 

public  sentiment  concerning  Methodism  every  where  was  changed. 
Calvinism  received  checks  from  which  it  will  not  in  long  years 
hence,  recover,  and  the  doctrines  of  free  grace,  and  an  unlimited 
atonement,  were  disseminated  from  Cape  May  to  the  hills  of  Up- 
per Sussex,  and  from  the  Delaware  river  to  the  sea.  The  fires 
of  his  eloquence  consumed  the  rubbish  of  doctrinal  error ;  his 
evangelical  arguments  ploughed  the  deep  field  of  the  human 
heart ;  the  gospel  of  free  grace  was  living  seed  cast  into  the  soft 
soil  of  the  soul,  and  his  prayers  and  tears,  the  sunshine  and  the 
shower,  fostering  the  seed  thus  sown  ;  as  if  it  is  yet  true,  '  They 
that  be  wise  shall  shine  as  the  brightness  of  the  firmament,  and 
they  that  turn  many  to  righteousness,  as  the  stars  forever  and 
ever.'  How  bright  and  glorious  must  be  the  eternal  future  of 
Charles  Pitman."  *  And  what  an  exceeding  and  eternal  weight 
of  glory  must  he  realize  in  heaven. 

*  Rev.  E.  H.  Stokes,  D.  D.,  Conference  Memorial,  pages  251,  252. 


CHAPTER   VII. 

MR.    PITMAN    STATIONED   IN    PHILADELPHIA,   AT   UNION 
CHURCH. 

IN  the  spring  of  1833,  at  the  Session  of  the  Philadelphia  Con- 
ference held  at  Newark,  N.  J.,  Bishops  McKendree  and 
Emory  presiding,  Mr.  Pitman  was  induced  to  leave  the  "  East 
Jersey  District,"  after  having  served  it  three  years  as  Presiding 
Elder,  and  accede  to  a  request  which  was  made  for  his  services 
at  a  new  enterprise  then  in  course  of  erection  in  the  city  of  Phila- 
delphia, and  consequently  was  appointed  to  Union  Church, 
formerly  known  as  the  "  Old  Academy/'  on  Fourth  street,  below 
Arch. 

The  large  brick  edifice  which  now  stands  about  midway  be- 
tween Market  and  Arch  streets,  and  nearly  a  hundred  feet  in 
from  the  street  line,  was  then  being  erected,  and  its  officiary  were 
anxious  to  secure  one  of  the  most  influential  and  popular  preach- 
ers of  the  Church  for  its  pastor,  so  that  when  finished  it  would 
exert  a  commanding  influence  in  the  city,  and  be  patronized  by 
one  of  the  best  and  largest  congregations.  While  the  church  was 
being  built,  the  congregation  worshipped  in  what  was  known 
at  that  time  as  "  Keyser's  Church,"  on  Crown,  below  Callowhill 
street.  This  was  a  moderate-sized  church,  which  had  been  kindly 
tendered  for  the  use  of  the  congregation  of  Union,  for  Sabbath 
afternoon  and  evening  services. 

In  the  selection  of  Mr.  Pitman  as  their  pastor,  the  congrega- 
tion of  Union  Church,  soon  found  out  that  they  had  "the  right 
man  in  the  right  place."  Scores  and  hundreds  of  people,  recol- 
lecting his  reputation  for  ministerial  efficiency  and  pulpit  oratory 
when  stationed  at  St.  George's,  on  the  city  circuit,  in  1825,  and 
96 


STATIONED   IN   PHILADELPHIA   AT   UNION   CHURCH.        97 

of  his  subsequent  efforts,  when  in  the  city,  at  special  times,  be- 
tween that  period  and  the  present  time,  and  which  had  awakened 
no  inconsiderable  expectation,  in  the  minds  of  the  thronging 
multitude,  now  sought  the  opportunity  of  becoming  members  of 
his  congregation  and  church,  so  that  on  his  arrival  at  his  new 
appointment,  and  even  at  his  introductory  service,  the  "  Keyser . 
Church"  could  but  illy  accommodate  the  throng  of  people,  and  it 
has  been  said  that  often,  for  an  hour  or  two  before  the  church 
doors  were  opened  for  the  service,  the  streets  would  be  filled 
with  people  waiting  for  admission. 

The  new  church  on  Fourth  street  was  pushed  forward  with 
the  greatest  activity  and  zeal,  and  on  the  13th  day  of  May  the 
basement  story  having  been  carried  to  its  proper  height,  an  ap- 
propriate sermon  was  preached  by  Rev.  Joseph  Rusling,  and  the 
corner-stone  was  laid.  The  church  was  completed  and  dedicated 
in  the  month  of  December  following,  on  Sabbath,  8th  inst,  1833, 
the  text  for  the  occasion  being  the  latter  clause  of  the  seventh 
verse  of  the  60th  chapter  of  Isaiah,  which  was  said  to  have 
been  a  sermon  of  wonderful  unction  and  great  power  (a  sketch 
of  which  will  be  found  at  the  close  of  this  volume).  The  after- 
noon sermon  was  preached  by  Rev.  Henry  White,  and  the 
evening  sermon  by  Rev.  E.  S.  Janes.  The  collections,  amounted 
to  nearly  eleven  hundred  dollars,  which  was  considered  worthy  of 
general  attention,  and  spoken  of  as  commendable  liberality,  with 
previously  large  cash  subscriptions.  After  the  society  had  re- 
moved from  "  Keyser's,"  into  their  new  building,  it  was  sup- 
posed that  their  large  audience-room,  with  its  capacious  galleries, 
chancel,  aisles  and  vestibule,  would  accommodate  all  who  might 
desire  to  wait  on  the  ministrations  of  Mr.  Pitman,  and  worship 
with  the  people  of  Union  Church.  Here  the  sittings  were  more 
than  half  as  many  more  as  the  "Keyser  Church,"  or  the  "Old 
Academy,"  contained,  and  it  was  considered  at  that  time,  to  be 
the  largest  church  in  the  city,  and  capable  of  accommodating  the 
largest  congregation.  But  from  the  day  of  dedication,  and  on 
7 


98  LIFE   OF   REV.    CHARLES   PITMAN,   D.D. 

through  the  successive  periods  of  its  services  under  Mr.  Pitman^ 
it  was  found  that  not  only  all  its  sittings  were  needed,  but  all  its 
available  space,  in  every  part  of  its  vast  auditorium  and  galleries, 
to  accommodate  the  masses  of  worshippers;  and  the  crowds  so 
increased,  that  the  pressure  became  as  great,  as  it  had  been  at 
the  smaller  church  on  Crown  street. 

Mr.  Pitman's  fame  as  a  distinguished  preacher,  was  so  great, 
and  his  influence  so  wide-spread,  and  the  desire  to  sit  under  his 
ministry  and  hear  the  word  of  life  proclaimed  by  him  so  general 
that  people  from  all  parts  of  the  city,  and  even  some,  from  be- 
yond the  city  limits,  came  pouring  into  the  church,  so  that  the 
new  sanctuary  presented  a  scene  not  unlike  the  former  one,  and 
might  have  had  the  prophecy,  which  Rev.  Dr.  Holdich  applied 
to  the  old  church  which  was  removed  from  that  site  (in  the  build- 
ing of  the  new  one),  applied  to  the  new  one  in  reference  to  Mr. 
Pitman  :  "  The  place  is  too  strait  for  me ;  give  place  to  me  that 
I  may  dwell."  Isa.  49th  chapter,  part  of  the  2d  verse. 

It  was  a  grand  sight  to  stand  in  the  pulpit  and  look  over  this 
spacious  auditorium,  when  its  congregation  had  assembled,  and 
to  behold  these  thousands  of  happy  faces  of  both  sexes  joining 
heartily  in  the  delightful  exercises  of  religious  worship.  It  was 
both  a  thrilling  and  inspiring  scene,  and  one  that  was  well  cal- 
culated to  arouse  the  highest  state  of  religious  fervor  and  enthu- 
siasm, in  the  soul  of  the  preacher,  as  well  as  to  call  forth  the 
loftiest  powers  of  mind  and  heart,  of  soul  and  voice,  in  fervid 
and  rapturous  address,  and  such  an  occasion  seemed  to  be  well 
adapted  to  the  mental  characteristics  and  intense  emotional  na- 
ture of  Mr.  Pitman,  and  when  he  ascended  the  pulpit,  every 
eye  was  fixed  on  him,  and  every  ear  was  opened  to  catch  the 
first  word  he  uttered. 

Mr.  Pitman  was  a  man  of  fine  and  commanding  appearance, 
approaching  almost  to  colossal  proportions  in  physical  dimen- 
sions. He  stood  fully  six  feet  high,  with  a  well-set  and  well- 
rounded  body,  supporting  shoulders  of  fine  mould,  and  with 


STATIONED   IN   PHILADELPHIA   AT   UNION   CHURCH.        99 

strong  arms,  small  hands,  and  a  broad,  full-developed  chest. 
He  had  a  fine,  large  head,  covered  profusely  with  a  luxuriant 
growth  of  soft,  dark  and  slightly  curling  hair,  a  round,  well- 
formed  forehead,  indicating  decision  of  character  and  purpose, 
and  dark,  slightly  sunken  eyes,  but  possessing  the  power  of 
deep  penetration.  His  complexion  was  dark,  and  indicated  a 
rough  exterior,  on  near  approach ;  but,  at  a  little  distance,  he 
would  have  been  pronounced  a  man  of  fine  physique  and  hand- 
some in  appearance.  He  was  courtly  in  his  manner  and  ad- 
dress. His  step  was  elastic;  he  moved  easily,  and  when  aroused 
in  the  earnestness  of  his  theme  in  preaching  the  gospel,  his 
whole  body  seemed  subservient  to  the  mighty  impulses  that 
moved  the  Spirit  within  him.  But,  with  all  these  physical 
advantages,  he  possessed  what  to  a  public  speaker,  an  orator  for 
God,  is  a  chief  and  powerful  instrument  for  important  service — 
a  good,  deep,  .strong  voice,  which  had  great  compass  and  power, 
and  was  as  flexible  as  the  waving  grain  under  the  influence  of  a 
strong  zephyr,  and  as  melodious  as  the  notes  of  an  .ZEolian 
harp,  and  being  perfectly  under  his  command,  he  could  use  it  at 
will  either  to  imitate  the  loud,  husky  thunders  that  will  at  the 
last  day  roll  their  dismal  voices  over  the  perverted  grandeur  of 
a  sin-ruined  and  sin-cursed  world,  or  flowing  along  in  its  smooth 
and  beautiful  cadences,  like  the  gentle  rill  over  the  miniature 
waterfall,  whose  every  sound  was  like  the  melody  of  an  angel 
or  the  sweet  notes  of  a  cherub,  that  voice  which  proclaimed  the 
curse  of  Heaven  against  sin,  offered  in  tones  as  sweet  as  angels 
use,  forgiveness  and  salvation  to  the  sinner.  His  countenance 
was  the  true  index  of  his  soul.  When  opening  the  service,  he 
always  read  his  hymns,  offered  his  prayer,  read  his  lessons  and 
announced  his  text  in  a  grave  and  dignified  manner, — so  much 
so  that  he  became  proverbially  distinguished  by  the  cognomen, 
"The  Solemn  Pitman;"  but  when  fully  absorbed  in  the  deliv- 
ery of  his  subject  (especially  if  he  was  led  out  on  the  field  of 
triumph,  where  the  victorious  armies  of  the  Lord  of  Hosts,  were 


100  LIFE   OF   REV.   CHARLES   PITMAN,   D.D. 

waving  their  ensigns  and  unfurling  their  banners,  to  the  breezes 
of  victory,  or  when  he  was  marching  the  sacramental  hosts  of 
God's  elect,  around  the  walls  of  our  spiritual  Zion,  and  in  clarion 
tones  shouting  to  them  "to  tell  the  towers  thereof,"  "to  mark 
well  her  bulwarks "  and  "  to  consider  her  palaces "),  then  his 
face  would  light  up  with  a  seraphic  glow,  and  his  voice  would 
become  transcendently  and  impressively  sweet,  so  that,  uncon- 
scious of  the  influence  himself,  and  unconscious  of  the  effect  he 
was  producing,  and  oblivious  of  all  personal  power,  he  would 
have  his  auditors  on  their  feet,  some  crowding  nearer  to  the 
pulpit  where  he  was  preaching,  while  others  were  leaning  over 
the  seats,  as  if  to  catch  every  word  that  fell  from  his  lips,  as 
though  the  salvation  of  their  souls  depended  on  their  effort,  and 
so  completely  was  he  absorbed  in  the  subject,  that  every  power 
of  his  nature,  and  every  faculty  of  mind,  seemed  to  be  in  full 
realization  of  what  there  was  at  the  time  flooding  his  soul. 
With  him  there  was  no  straining  effort  to  grasp  what  was  be- 
yond his  reach,  "or  pierce  into  that  deep  profound  that  lies  in 
half-unrivaled  obscurity  between  earth  and  heaven ;"  but  his 
thoughts  came  at  command,  and  at  the  proper  time,  and  in  their 
appropriate  place,  and  with  all  of  that  warm,  gushing  sympathy 
and  unction,  with  which  his  nature  was  so  thoroughly  suscepti- 
ble, and  which  so  often  found  a  hearty  response  in  the  souls  of 
his  auditors.  It  was  under  the  influence  of  such  preaching  that 
Mr.  Pitman  crowded  Union  church  ;  it  was  in  "  demonstration 
of  the  Spirit,  and  of  power,"  and  such  preaching  will  crowd 
any  church  where  there  are  people  to  crowd  it. 
.  Mr.  Pitman  knew  how  to  read  hymns,  and  it  was  said  of  him 
that  if  he  did  not  preach,  it  was  well  worth  one's  time,  to  go  to  the 
church  to  hear  him  read  the  hymns.  Some  of  his  favorites  were, 
"O  for  a  thousand  tongues  to  sing,"  "From  all  that  dwell 
below  the  skies,"  "Eternal  Power,  whose  high  abode,"  "  O, 
thou  God  of  my  Salvation,"  "  JERUSALEM,  my  happy  home," 
etc.,  "Jesus  shall  reign  where'er  the  sun,"  etc.  Into  these 


STATIONED   IN   PHILADELPHIA   AT   UNION   CHURCH.     101 

hymns  and  others  of  similar  sentiment,  he  would  pour  the 
deepest  sympathies  of  his  nature,  and  the  profoundest  emotional 
feelings  of  his  soul,  until  his  voice  seemed  attuned  with  a  divine 
pathos,  and  his  words  fell  like  drops  of  molten  silver,  into  the 
souls  of  his  captivated  and  entranced  hearers.  In  connection 
with  his  pastoral  and  preaching  services,  he  witnessed  much 
fruit  here,  as  in  other  places,  many  of  whom  were  young  men, 
who  afterwards  became  ministers  of  the  gospel,  and  though  a 
greater  part  of  them  are  "  fallen  asleep,"  some  remain  as  the 
monuments  of  God's  grace,  and  the  seals  of  his  effective  and 
efficient  ministry.  It  has  been  thought  that  more  young  men 
were  converted  and  became  ministers,  under  Mr.  Pitman's  min- 
istry, than  any  other  preacher  of  the  gospel  in  the  Philadelphia 
Conference.  Certainly  this  was  true  in  New  Jersey.  But  there 
were  scores  and  hundreds  of  others  who  were  brought  to  Christ, 
and  who,  though  they  did  not  become  ministers,  have  exempli- 
fied a  remarkable  Christian  life,  in  serving  the  cause  of  God  and 
the  church,  in  the  capacity  of  its  officiary,  and  in  nobly  support- 
ing the  institutions  of  Christianity,  and  to-day  they  are  found 
within  what  was  once  the  sphere  of  his  labors,  as  the  most  active 
and  energetic  members  of  the  church,  and  are  "  living  epistles, 
known  and  read  of  all  men.'* 

Mr.  Pitman  was  a  man  that  was  fully  absorbed  in  his  work, 
and  gave  it  his  unremitted  and  undivided  attention.  In  stations, 
as  well  as  on  districts,  he  attended  to  all  the  minutiae  of  the  pas- 
torate, and  did  not  neglect  even  the  smallest,  or  seemingly  most 
trivial  interest,  that  would  aid  in  promoting  the  cause  of  Christ 
among  the  people.  From  an  old  record  we  learn  that  he 
preached,  while  stationed  at  Union  Church,  nearly  two  hundred 
sermons,  and  was  not  absent  from  his  charge  but  one  Sabbath 
during  the  two  years  (the  limit  of  ministerial  vacations  during 
those  times,  and  in  many  subsequent  years  thereafter).  Occa- 
sionally his  pulpit  was  filled  for  a  service  by  such  men  as  Mo- 
Combs,  Lee,  Ruter,  Castle,  Durbiu  and  others  of  precious  mem- 


102  LIFE   OF   REV.    CHARLES   PITMAN,    D.D. 

ory.  It  is  a  sad  thought  to  thousands  of  Methodists  in  Philadel- 
phia and  elsewhere,  now  to  pass  Union  Church,  to  stop,  even 
for  a  moment,  and  think  that  that  spacious  edifice  was  built  for 
the  preaching  of  the  gospel,  and  with  some  special  reference  to 
accommodate  the  masses,  who  were  wont  to  crowd  to  the  ministry 
of  "  the  solemn,"  but  sublimely  eloquent  Pitman ;  that  there  was 
the  grand  arena,  the  scene  of  some  of  his  most  sublime  and 
masterly  efforts,  and  also  of  some  of  the  most  wonderful  dis- 
plays of  the  power  of  God,  and  the  place,  where  once  crowded 
a  multitude  of  people,  until  the  spacious  church  could  hold  no 
more,  and  where  for  so  many  years,  the  voice  of  praise  rolled 
up  to  heaven,  in  thanksgivings  of  gratitude  and  love,  and  where 
so  many  "golden-mouthed"  and  "silver-tongued"  orators  for 
God,  rang  out,  in  trumpet-tones,  the  glad  message  of  salva- 
tion to  the  ruined  sons  of  Adam's  race,  that  now  the  gates  should 
be  closed,  the  doors  shut,  the  pulpit  destitute  of  its  herald,  the 
pews  empt}r,  and  the  vast  audience  room  vacant,  desolate  and 
silent,  and  the  significant  notice  "  for  sale,"  hung  upon  the 
fence,  proclaiming  the  mutability  of  all  transitory  things. 
Would  to  God  that  its  gates  might  be  unfastened,  its  doors 
thrown  open,  and  the  thronging  masses  of  sin-ruined  humanity 
turned  therein  to  receive  the  word  of  life ;  even  if  only  to  be 
the  rooms  of  the  city  missionary  organization,  or  a  merciful 
shelter  to  the  abject,  forlorn  and  degraded  outcast,  who  there 
might  find  a  retreat  and  a  refuge  from  heartless  villainy  and 
degradation. 

Mr.  Pitman's  term  of  ministerial  service,  according  to  rules  of 
the  M.  E.  Church,  now  (in  1835)  expired,  and  at  the  Conference 
which  was  held  at  St.  George's,  Philadelphia,  he  was  appointed, 
with  Rev.  E.  S.  Janes,  (afterwards  Bishop),  agent  for  Dickinson 
College,  located  in  Carlisle,  Cumberland  County,  Pa.,  which  was 
founded  by  the  Presbyterian  denomination,  and  was  incorporated 
by  the  State  in  1783.  The  property  was  transferred  to  a  board 
of  trustees  in  1834,  who  held  it  for  the  use  of  the  M.  E. 


APPOINTED   AGENT   FOR   DICKINSON   COLLEGE.  103 

Church.     The  Baltimore  and  Philadelphia  Conference,  taking  it 
under  their  patronage,  the  afore-named  ministers,  were  appointed 
agents,  to  collect  funds  for  its  endowment,  and  Rev.  J.  P.  Dur- 
bin,  then  editor  of  the   Christian  Advocate  and  Journal,  was 
elected  to  its  presidency.     The  severe  struggle  of  our  educational 
institutions,  in  those  times,  for  funds  to  keep  them  in  exist- 
ence,   often   demanded    the   best   talent,    most  energetic   zeal, 
and  the  most  popular  ministers.     Methodism  in  this  country, 
at  that  time,  was  a  unit,  and  our  relations  with  the  South  were 
both  friendly  and   brotherly,  and  we  were  working  the  great 
field  harmoniously,  and  with  marked  success.     Rev.  Mr.  Janes 
was  to  take  the  southern  part  of  the  country  and  Mr.  Pitman 
the    northern,  and  it  was    thought  by  the  church,   that  such 
a    concentration    of   apostolic   power   in    any   one  enterprise, 
would  lift  it  speedily  beyond  peril,  or  embarrassment.     They  did 
well,  and  accomplished  much  for  the  college  and  its  estimable 
purposes,  securing  about  forty-five  thousand  dollars  in  donations 
and  subscriptions,  but  it  is  a  question  whether  the  church  did 
not,  in  this  case,  as  in  many  others,  pay  too  dear  a  price  for  this 
achievement.     No  man  of  Mr.  Pitman's  mental  characteristics 
and  refined  physical  qualities,  of  his  emotional  nature  and  high 
conceptions  of  the  grand  work  in  saving  souls,  could  step  down, 
from  the  ministerial  position,  and  pulpit  of  Union  Church  and 
congregation,  into  a  financial  scheme  for  the  relief  of  an  op- 
pressed educational  institution,  without  feeling,  in  some  degree, 
the  loss  of  that  power  and  influence  which  sustains  the  ministry 
in  its  exclusive  devotion  to  its  own  and  peculiar  work,  the  one 
position  being  so  incompatible  with  the  situation  of  the  other, 
and  he  must  have  felt,  not  only  its  incongeniality,  but  the  ex- 
treme awkwardness  of  the  situation. 

The  venerable  Bishop  Andrew,  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  South, 
in  a  sermon  preached  before  the  Louisville  Conference,  at 
Greensburg,  Ky.,  Sept.  21,  1850,  on  the  occasion  of  the  death 
of  Bishop  H.  B.  Bascom,  D.D.  LL.D.,  says:  "It  was  an  unfor- 


104  LIFE   OF   REV.    CHARLES   PITMAN,    D.D. 

tunate  event  in  his  life  (as  we  think)  that  the  church  called  him 
away  from  the  active  labors  of  the  pulpit,  to  serve  in  her  literary 
institutions.  Not  that  he  lacked  any  requisite  qualification  for 
the  chair  of  instruction ;  but,  it  has  seemed  to  us,  both  a  pity  and 
a  wrong,  thus  to  have  fettered  and  caged  this  soaring  eagle.  Me- 
thinks  he  should  have  been  left  free,  to  sweep  through  the  world, 
a  blazing  meteor,  and  make  full  proof  of  his  ministry,  in  a  field 
better  adapted  to  his  unequal  powers.  The  pulpit,  doubtless, 
should  have  been  his  only  battle-ground.  For  the  pulpit,  he  was 
specially  designed,  and  super-eminently  qualified  by  the  Great 
Head  of  the  Church,  and  he  should  have  remained  there.  If 
those  twenty  years  of  comparative  seclusion  in  college  halls,  had 
been  given  to  the  active  duties  and  labors  of  the  ministry,  we 
cannot  refrain  from  the  thought,  that  a  far  richer  harvest  would 
have  been  reaped,  to  the  glory  of  God,  good  to  man  and  en- 
during fame  to  the  preacher  himself."  And  so  it  was,  with  the 
appointment  of  Mr.  Pitman,  to  the  agency  of  Dickinson  College, 
or  in  taking  Mr.  Pitman,  out  of  his  legitimate  sphere  and  emi- 
nently popular,  and  almost  unequaled  and  successful  ministry. 

Whatever  may  have  been  Mr.  Pitman's  personal  preferences, 
he  yielded  to  the  call  of  the  church,  and  entered  upon  the  work, 
as  being  directed  by  the  supreme  controller  of  all  events,  and 
now  with  the  plans  and  purposes  of  life  greatly  changed,  if  not 
wholly  revolutionized,  and  taken  out  of  the  regular  work  of  the 
ministry,  in  which  his  whole  being  had  been  so  long,  and  so 
thoroughly  engaged,  and  where  his  mind  was  being  drilled  by 
systematic  study  and  consecutive  pulpit  effort;  he  was  thrown 
into  the  whirl  and  twists  of  financial  schemes,  in  the  cause  of 
education,  and  yet  with  all  of  this,  and  the  dampness  and  de- 
pression that  such  circumstances  were  calculated,  to  throw  upon 
his  religious  fervor,  the  fires  of  his  ministerial  zeal,  and  his  love 
for  the  flame  of  revival  power,  were  not  extinguished  or  abated, 
as  the  following  incident  will  show.  While  travelling  as  the 
agent  for  Dickinson  College,  he  went  to  a  camp-meeting  down 


AGENT   FOR   DICKINSON   COLLEGE.  105 

in  the  State  of  Delaware.  He  reached  the  place  a  little  after 
noon,  and  when  he  got  to  where  he  could  speak  with  the  Presid- 
ing Elder,  who  had  charge  of  the  meeting,  he  said  to  him. 
"  Brother,  I  have  a  message  from  God,  to  deliver  to  this  people, 
and  I  cannot  get  away  from  it,  and  if  you  will  let  me  preach 
this  afternoon,  as  my  duties  call  me  away  from  this  place 
to-morrow,  I  will  deliver  it  in  the  name  of  God."  The  Presid- 
ing Elder  replied,  saying,  that  another  brother  had  been  engaged 
to  preach  this  afternoon,  but  if  you  can  arrange  it  with  him,  to 
come  in  at  another  time  on  the  plan  of  appointments,  I  shall  be 
very  happy  to  have  you  preach.  Said  Brother  Pitman,  if  I  go 
and  see  him,  will  you  be  satisfied  with  our  arrangement.  The 
Presiding  Elder  assented,  and  Brother  Pitman  went  to  the 
brother  who  was  to  preach,  stated  his  feelings  and  impressions, 
and  the  minister  impressed,  that  it  was  from  the  Lord,  readily 
granted  to  Brother  Pitman  his  place  for  that  afternoon  service. 
As  the  preachers  were  gathering  on  the  stand,  and  the  people 
assembling  in  the  congregation  for  that  afternoon's  service,  it 
was  observed  that  the  clouds  in  the  heavens  had  been  rolling  to- 
gether in  the  west,  and  by  the  time  the  introductory  services  were 
to  be  commenced,  there  were  ominous  and  threatening  indications 
of  a  severe  thunder-storm  approaching  the  encampment.  Mr. 
Pitman  arose  to  announce  his  first  hymn.  The  sky  was  so  soon 
over-spread  with  the  blackness  of  the  approaching  tempest, 
that  he  could  hardly  see  to  read  the  hymn.  The  people  had 
heard  of  Dr.  Pitman's  arrival,  and  of  his  intention  to  preach, 
and  were  out  en  masse,  but  were  much  agitated  by  the 
threatening  aspects  of  the  clouds.  When  they  knelt  to 
pray,  the  fierce  lightnings  flashed  across  the  sky,  and  the 
loud  booming  thunders  were  rolling  up  their  husky  voices 
into  mid-heaven.  Undaunted  amid  this  threatening  scene,  and 
unterrified  with  all  the  frowning  aspects,  and  angry  premonitions 
that  surrounded  him,  Mr.  Pitman  knelt  before  the  God  of  the 
Universe,  whom  he  knew  could  command  the  storrn,  and  hold 


106  LIFE   OF   REV.   CHARLES  PITMAN,    D.D. 

the  raging  winds  in  check  with  his  omnipotent  fist,  and  prayed 
in  familiar  intercourse,  and  with  holy  boldness  :  "  O !  Lord  God 
Almighty,  thou  who  hast  sent  me  to  preach  to  this  people,  hold 
back  these  threatening  clouds  for  one  hour,  while  we  go  on'with 
this  service  in  thy  name,  and  let  us  not  be  disturbed  by  the  im- 
pending storm,  but  let  thy  presence  descend  upon  both  preacher 
and  people,  and  let  great  good  be  accomplished  this  day  by  the 
preaching  of  thy  word  in  the  salvation  of  souls."     This  petition 
was  thrice  repeated,  and  each  time  with  greater  earnestness  and 
fervor.     It  seemed,  as  one  said  there  and  then,  "  that  is  a  bold 
request,"  "a  strong  venture  on  God."     Some  skeptical  persons, 
questioned  his  faith,  as  to  whether  the  petition  would  be  granted  ; 
failure  seemed  largely  to  preponderate  against  it ;  but  there  were 
those  in  that  congregation,  who  after  he  had  offered  that  prayer 
and  announced  his  text,  took  out  their  watches  and  marked  the 
time.     The  preacher  thoroughly  self-possessed  and  unmoved,  by 
all  the  threatening  aspects  that  overshadowed  him,   preached 
with  great  power;    never  did  the  divine  Lord  more  signally 
help  him,  and  own  the  effort  of  his  servant.     The  hour  passed ; 
some  said  the  sermon  exceeded  it  by  ten  minutes ;  others  that  it 
closed  almost  to  the  minute,  and  at  its  close,  it  was  difficult  to 
account  which  had  produced  the  greater  effect,  the  answer  to  the 
prayer,  so  signally  made  known  to  both  saint  and  sinner,  or  the 
zeal  and  heavenly  pathos  of  the  preacher.    God  was  in  both,  and 
now  said  Mr.  Pitman  as  he  closed  his  sermon,  go  to  your  tents 
and  fall  down  before  God  and  thank  him  for  this  glorious  privi- 
lege which  we  have  enjoyed  together;  the  congregation  repaired 
to  their  tents,  and  the  ministers  followed.     Mr.  Pitman  was 
among  the  last  to  leave  the  stand,  and  as  he  retired  to  a  tent 
near  by,  the  lightenings  began  to  flash,  and  the  pent  up  thunders 
rolled  in  fearful  omens  over  the  encampment ;  the  rain  descended 
almost  in  a  deluge ;  men  stood  aghast,  women  trembled  and 
thought  the  day  of  doom  was  upon  them.     Sinners  fell  to  the 
earth  under  the  power  of  the  convicting  Spirit,  and  the  presence 


A  STORM   CLOUD  STAYED   AT   A   CAMP-MEETING.         107 

of  the  Lord  rested  upon  the  multitudes,  that  had  gathered  in  the 
tents,  and  during  that  afternoon,  and  from  a  careful  computa- 
tion, it  was  estimated  that  over  five  hundred  souls  were  converted. 
And  so  great  was  the  spiritual  influence  that  pervaded  the  place, 
that  the  meetings  ran  on  far  into  the  hours  of  night,  so  as  to  pre- 
clude any  other  service.  We  may  pause  a  moment  as  we  close  this 
thrilling  and  most  wonderful  incident,  and  ask,  Where  is  the 
modern  college  agent,  or  church  financier,  in  any  department  of 
her  work,  that  measures  up  to  such  a  degree  of  spiritual  power, 
and  has  such  faith  in  God,  as  to  hold  a  storm-cloud  in  check,  by 
the  power  of  prayer,  for  an  hour  or  more,  and  then  in  a  place 
of  shelter,  see  the  salvation  of  over  five  hundred  souls,  as  the 
result  of  one  sermon,  under  such  circumstances,  accompanied  by 
the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost  ?  And  does  not  this  indicate,  that 
nearness  of  living  to  God ;  a  greater  consecration  to  his  ser- 
vice, is  the  want  of  the  ministry  of  these  times  to  see  similar  re- 
sults accomplished.  "  Where,"  we  may  exclaim,  "  is  the  Lord 
God  of  Elijah?  "  but  rather  let  us  see  the  need  of  saying,  "  Where 
are  the  Elijahs  that  can  call  the  Lord  God  down  from  heaven 
that  answers  by  fire?"  O  for  such  a  ministry  !  and  O  for  such 
a  people !  Then  will  the  word  of  the  Lord,  have  free  course 
and  be  glorified  in  the  salvation  of  souls  in  a  similar  manner. 

Mr.  Pitman  was  noted,  both  in  preaching  and  praying,  for 
using  the  expression,  "the  unction  of  the  Holy  One."  He 
would  urge  with  the  most  impressive  and  soul-stirring  pathos 
this  attainment  as  spoken  of  by  the  apostle,  and  in  prayer  most 
beseechingly  and  earnestly  cry  to  God  for  it,  and  it  seemed  that 
when  he  preached  he  had  a  special  baptism  of  divine  power  and  a 
special  inspiration  to  aid  in  the  work  of  proclaiming  God's  truth 
to  dying  men,  as  though  atalismanic  influence  possessed  both  his 
soul  and  body.  There  is  a  supernatural  aid  and  power  that  comes 
to  a  minister  of  the  gospel  when  the  "  divine  anointing"  descends 
upon  him,  and  God  qualifies  him,  by  his  Spirit,  for  his  especial 
work.  Let  this  baptism  be  earnestly  sought  for  by  every  minis- 
ter of  Christ. 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

MB.  PITMAN   RELINQUISHES   THE    AGENCY   OF   DICKINSON 
COLLEGE   AND   RETURNS   TO   THE   PASTORATE. 

MR.  PITMAN  closed  his  work  with  Dickinson  College  at  the 
expiration  of  one  year,  and  returned  to  the  regular  pas- 
torate, and  in  the  spring  of  1836,  was  stationed  at  St.  George's, 
Philadelphia,  which  in  the  previous  year  was  separated  from 
the  other  churches,  which  were  on  the  plan  of  the  city  circuit, 
and  made  into  a  separate  charge  or  station.  He  now  felt  that 
he  had  got  back  again  into  his  much-loved  life's  employ, 
for  which  he  felt  himself  so  exclusively  qualified,  viz. :  preach- 
ing Christ,  inducing  sinners  to  be  reconciled  to  God,  and  attend- 
ing to  the  duties  of  the  pastorate.  Ten  years  had  elapsed  since 
he  had  left  St.  George's  as  one  of  the  preachers  on  the  city  cir- 
cuit, and  now  he  returns  to  it  with  the  enlarged  experience 
and  advantage  of  seven  years  in  the  Presiding  Eldership,  two  in 
a  city  pastorate,  and  one  in  the  general  and  extensive  work  of  a 
college  agent ;  added  to  this  was  a  cosmopolitan  and  wide-spread 
reputation  and  popularity  for  pulpit  power  and  ministerial 
efficiency,  which  enlarged  the  even  now  out-spreading  fields  of 
his  usefulness. 

St.  George's  Church  edifice  had  been  erected  long  before  the 
present  century  had  dawned  upon  the  history  of  our  world. 
Originally  it  was  built  in  1763,  by  some  members  of  a  German 
Reformed  congregation,  and  purchased  by  the  Society  of  Metho- 
dists in  1770.  It  had  long  been  considered  the  "  bee-hive  of 
Methodism  "  in  Philadelphia,  and  is  to  this  day  styled  "  the 
mother  of  all  the  churches,"  the  nucleus  and  origin  of  all  the 
other  societies,  having  a  near  or  remote  connection  with  this 
108 


APPOINTED  TO  ST.  GEORGE'S  CHURCH,  PHILADELPHIA.    109 

church,  and  to  it  in  its  earliest,  as  well  as  its  subsequent  history, 
the  people  flocked,  and  many  felt  that  it  was  a  special  honor  to 
hold  their  membership  in  connection  with  this  church,  while 
some  of  the  more  enthusiastic,  emotional,  and  zealous  members 
thought  it  the  vestibule  of  heaven  itself. 

Mr.  Pitman  was  not  a  stranger  to  the  people  of  St.  George's, 
nor  to  their  characteristics,  as  earnest  and  zealous  Christians, 
and  the  extent  of  its  membership,  then  spreading  on  all 
sides,  and  even  far  beyond  the  city  limits.  The  old  church 
had  been  constructecl  after  the  idea  of  William  Penn,  and 
his  immediate  descendants,  in  those  "  times  and  seasons 
of  severe  plainness,"  or  days  and  years  of  conscientious  and 
restricted  liberality,  that  would  indicate  any  display  of  taste,  or 
even  convenience  and  comfort,  as  mere  extravagance.  It  was 
built  after  the  heart-convictions  of  the  people  concerning  the 
true  spirit  of  gospel  plainness,  and  not  daring  to  assume  the 
dignified  and  pretentious  claim  of  being  a  church,  it  was  called 
a  "  meeting-house,"  and  it  required  the  association  of  some  years 
before  the  term  or  name  church  was  applied  to  it ;  but  as  years 
rolled  on,  and  time  changed,  came  that  inevitable  desire  for  a 
change,  or  remodeling  of  the  edifice.  The  old  structure  was  an 
extensive  building,  erected  to  accommodate  the  masses,  under 
all  exigencies,  and  was  quite  antiquated  in  its  appearance.  It 
was  set  some  two  feet  or  more,  above  the  level  of  the  street,  upon 
stone  piers  as  its  supports,  and  required  the  ascent  of  several 
steps  to  enter  it.  The  front  doors  were  in  the  centre  of  the 
building,  and  opened  directly  into  the  church,  and  the  interior 
being  utterly  destitute  of  any  paint,  had  for  the  accommodation 
of  its  worshippers  the  old  fashion  slat-backed  benches,  while  the 
pulpit  was  a  small  semicircle  box,  similar  in  shape  to  a  swallow's 
nest,  and  perched  several  feet  high  on  the  east  wall,  with  wind- 
ing, or  circular  steps  ascending  to  it,  and  with  supports  of  a  cir- 
cular railing.  It  was  evident,  from  the  size  of  it,  that  it  was 
intended  that  no  two,  much  less  three  preachers  should  occupy 


110  LIFE   OF   REV.    CHARLES   PITMAN,   D.D. 

that  pulpit  at  the  same  time  ;  the  galleries  were  broad  and  ample 
to  accommodate  the  overflow,  and  afford  a  place  of  seating  for 
the  colored  members ;  all  of  the  exterior  and  interior  of  the 
church,  bore  a  corresponding  view  to  the  eye,  and  gave  the  im- 
pression that  the  "old  meeting-house"  had  served  well  it«  day 
and  generation,  and  if  not  needing  removal  altogether,  it  did 
call  for  remodeling  and  repairing,  and  that  Zion  "  should  put 
on  her  beautiful  garments,"  and  be  adorned  with  suitable  dis- 
play of  improvement,  so  as  to  take  her  place  among  the  sister 
churches,  which  were  then  springing  up  all  around  her,  as  the 
hopeful  daughters  of  her  own  spiritual  industry. 

The  work  was  commenced,  and  much  of  Mr.  Pitman's  first 
year's  time  and  labor  were  occupied  with  the  improvement  and 
remodeling  of  the  old  edifice,  for,  in  those  times,  it  must  be 
borne  in  mind,  that  the  preacher  in  charge,  was  not  only  chairman 
of  the  building  committees,  but  collector  of  all  the  funds  neces- 
sary to  meet  the  expenses  for  improvement,  and  general  superin- 
tendent of  the  building,  re-building  and  repairing  of  the  Lord's 
houses  or  churches,  and  to  their  untiring  energy,  tact  and  perse- 
verance, as  well  as  labor,  Methodist  societies  and  Methodism 
owes  many  of  its  most  beautiful,  and  most  comfortable  churches, 
it  has  in  this  day.  When  the  writer  of  this  biography  en- 
tered the  Conference  as  a  travelling  minister,  he  was  told  by 
his  senior  ministers  that  "  a  big  revival  of  religion  "  and  "  the 
building  of  a  church  "  would  be  considered  of  more  importance 
to  his  advancement  in  the  ministry,  than  the  highest  educational 
attainments  or  pulpit  popularity,  could  possibly,  secure  for  him  ; 
and  many  and  noble  have  been  the  struggles  of  the  men  of  those, 
and  subsequent  times,  to  accomplish  a  work  which,  under  depress- 
ing circumstances,  it  seemed  to  be  next  to  an  impossibility  to  effect 
and  not  infrequently  has  it  subjected  them  to  uncharitable, 
and  even  perverse  criticism  and  severe  censure ;  and  how  soon 
such  hard  toil  and  work  is  forgotten,  or  ceases  to  be  chronicled, 
and  remembered  in  the  events  of  the  past  and  present !  Churches 


RE-MODELING  OP   ST.    GEORGE'S   CHURCH.  Ill 

and  parsonages  have  been  built,  by  the  sacrifice,  hardship,  toil 
and  labor  of  others;  then,  in  the  changes  incident  to  an  itinerent 
life,  others  enter  these  places  to  enjoy  the  benefit  of  their  prede- 
cessor's toil,  and  soon  all  the  past  is  forgotten,  the  labor  unre- 
quited and  often  unacknowledged,  and  "  Joseph  is  not  known  to 
his  brethren. tj 

Mr.  Pitman  gave  his  unremitted  attention  to  the  enterprise  of 
remodeling  St.  George's  church,  and  even  spent  hours,  if  not 
days  together,  at  the  church  among  the  workmen,  while  engaged 
in  reconstructing  the  old  edifice.  It  was  on  one  of  these  occa- 
sions, while  passing  around  among  the  workmen,  dropping  a  word 
here  and  there  of  kindness  and  gospel  truth,  suggesting  a  plan 
of  improvement,  or  giving  a  more  intelligent  idea  of  the  struc- 
ture of  the  building  he  desired,  that  he  came  upon  William  P. 
Corbit,  then  a  worldly-minded  young  man  who  had  been  em- 
ployed as  a  laborer  on  the  repairs,  and  of  whom  Mr.  Corbit 
says :  "  It  was  during  this  year  that  I  became  intimately 
acquainted  with  Charles  Pitman.  I  have  sat  and  talked  with 
him  frequently,  when  a  poor  sinner,  and  it  seems  to  me,  I  could 
have  worshipped  him,  had  it  not  been  idolatry  to  do  so,  he  was 
such  a  fine  specimen  of  a  man  in  every  respect.  I  shall  never 
forget  one  remark,  he  made  to  me  while  they  were  repairing  the 
church.  Said  he,  '  Friend  Corbit,  when  we  get  our  church 
finished;  you  must  get  religion,  and  join  with  us.'  "It  thrilled," 
says  Bro.  Corbit,  "  through  and  through  my  soul,  and  I  never 
have  forgotten  it."  It  was  as  a  nail  driven  in  a  sure  place  and 
fastened  "  by  the  Master  of  Assemblies,"  and  not  only  did  Bro. 
Corbit  get  converted,  but  also  Bro.  Corbit's  brother,  Israel  S. 
Corbit,  with  hundreds '  of  others,  as  we  shall  hereafter  have 
occasion  to  relate. 

In  the  fall,  near  the  commencement  of  winter,  and  after  the 
church  had  been  finished,  it  soon  became  evident  that  the  "signs 
of  the  times"  at  St.  George's,  indicated  or  foreshadowed,  a  revival 
of  religion.  People  from  all  parts  of  the  city  were  seen,  both 


112  LIFE   OF   REV.    CHARLES   PITMAN,    D.D. 

on  Sabbath  and  week-days,  wending  their  way  to  the  services  of 
that  church,  and  the  meetings  became  characterized,  by  a  devo- 
tional fervor  and  interest,  which  was  no  unmistakable  sign  of 
what  was  sure  to  follow.  The  church  cried  mightily  to  God  in 
prayer,  the  preacher  proclaimed  the  word  of  truth,  the  Holy 
Spirit  attended  the  effort,  and  there  was  a  stir  in  the  camp  of 
Israel,  "  a  shaking  among  the  dry  bones."  Under  this  state  of 
spiritual  influence  and  expectation,  Mr.  Pitman  came  into  the 
church  one  Sabbath  evening,  near  the  first  of  the  new  year,  and 
after  the  introductory  exercises,  announced  as  his  text,  "  He 
that  goeth  forth  and  weepeth  bearing  precious  seed,  shall  doubt- 
less come  again  with  rejoicing,  bringing  his  sheaves  with  him" 
Psa.  126,  6.  This  was  a  favorite  text  with  Mr.  Pitman,  he 
had  preached  from  it  scores  of  times,  and  at  a  number  of 
camp-meetings,  it  was  his  "  Damascus  blade,"  and  was  wielded 
with  a  skill  and  dexterity,  that  argued,  that  no  unskillful  war- 
rior held  in  his  hand  the  sword  of  divine  truth  on  that  occasion. 
As  he  progressed  in  the  delivery  of  his  message,  the  congrega- 
tion became  wrapt  in  amazement  at  his  wonderful,  and  truly 
transcendent  utterances,  and  were  swayed  like  the  wind  sways 
the  waving  grain  in  a  spring  shower,  but  strange  to  say  that 
suddenly,  and  amid  this  wonderful  influence  of  divine  power, 
that  seemed  to  be  attending  the  word  and  its  effects,  on  the  mul- 
titude who  were  listening  to  him,  as  though  his  voice  was  the 
voice  of  an  oracle,  a  change  came  over  the  scene,  like  an  angry 
storm-cloud  that  suddenly  mantles  the  heavens  with  blackness, 
and  so  dark  was  his  mind,  and  so  embarrassed  were  his  utter- 
ances ;  that  he  could  proceed  no  further,  and,  turning  around  in 
the  pulpit,  he  fell  upon  his  knees  and  prayed  God  to  send  him 
deliverance.  It  came  in  an  instant,  and  ere  he  rose  from  the 
attitude  of  prayer,  the  wave  had  swept  over  the  whole  congrega- 
tion, and  such  a  scene  as  was  that  evening  witnessed,  in  that 
tfme-honored  church,  beggars  all  description.  Scores  pressed 
their  way  to  the  altar  crying  for  mercy,  and  saints  stood  still  to 


REVIVAL   OF  RELIGION  AT  ST.   GEORGE^.  113 

"  behold  the  salvation  of  God."  That  evening  the  revival 
started  and  swept  on  with  unabating  interest  and  increasing 
power,  for  weeks  and  months.  The  meetings  were  held  day  and 
night,  afternoon  and  evening,  and,  frequently,  five  and  six 
prayer-meetings  would  be  going  on  in  different  parts  of  the  church 
at  the  same  time.  Three  prayer-meetings  were  appointed,  and 
held  in  the  gallery,  and  three  below-stairs,  and  so  great  was  the 
interest  of  the  meeting,  and  so  wide-spread  became  its  influence 
that  it  extended  to  all  parts  of  the  city,  so  that  Fourth  Street, 
from  Race  beyond  Vine,  and  New  and  Branch  Streets  were 
lined  with  the  carriages  of  the  people  who  came  to  attend  it. 
The  church  all  the  year,  and  through  the  next  year,  was  a 
"Bethesda;"  the  pool  was  all  the  time  troubled,  and  the  impo- 
tent, the  lame  and  the  sick  came  and  stepped  in,  and  were  made 
whole. 

One  instance  of  thrilling  and  wonderful  power,  out  of  many 
that  might  be  mentioned,  we  here  record,  as  it  serves  to  illus- 
trate the  character  of  others  somewhat  similar.  There  was  a 
woman  of  southern  birth  by  the  name  of  Crafts,  who  had  moved 
with  her  husband  from  Virginia,  to  reside  in  Philadelphia,  and 
had  her  home  on  Marshall  Street  near  Noble.  She  was  a  lady 
of  great  personal  attraction,  and  possessing  wealth,  was  devoted 
to  fashion  and  fashionable  society,  and  being  naturally  fond  of 
theatrical  entertainments,  made  the  theatre  and  ball-room,  a  place 
of  favorite  resort.  During  this  revival  service,  while  on  the  way 
to  an  evening  entertainment,  of  her  choice,  she  was  driven,  by  her 
coachman  down  Fourth  Street,  past  St.  George's  Church,  and  as 
she  was  passing  the  church,  her  attention  was  arrested  by  the 
singing,  and  she  inquired  of  her  driver,  as  to  what  it  meant.  He 
informed  her  that  it  was  a  Methodist  Church,  and  that  they  were 
having  revival  meetings  there.  She  ordered  him  to  stop  the 
carriage,  and  concluded  that  she  would  go  to  meeting  that  night 
instead  of  going  to  the  theatre.  She  entered  the  church,  in  the 
full  regalia  of  her  fashionable  theatre  costume,  jewelry,  diamonds, 
8 


114  LIFE   OP   REV.    CHARLES   PITMAN,   D.D. 

and  flowers,  and  as  she  passed  in,  the  church  being  quite  full, 
an  usher  provided  her,  with  a  seat  in  front  of  what  used  to  be 
styled,  by  the  sinners  of  those  times,  "  the  Amen  Corner."  The 
singing  was  going  on  in  an  animated  style,  and  the  meeting 
proved  to  be  a  good,  old-fashioned  Methodist  revival  service,  in 
which  Mrs.  Crafts  took  much  interest,  if  not  to  say  delight.  The 
next  evening  she  came  again,  and  occupied  the  same  seat.  A 
few  minutes  afterwards  Mr.  Pitman  came  in,  and,  ascending 
the  pulpit,  engaged  in  silent  prayer ;  after  prayer  he  arose,  and, 
stepping  forward  to  the  pulpit,  fell  upon  his  knees,  and  lifting 
his  hands  toward  heaven,  exclaimed  with  great  emotion  and 
tenderness  of  utterance  :  "  Oh,  my  soul !  Oh  my  soul ! "  As  he 
uttered  these  words  Mrs.  Crafts  fell  to  the  floor  on  her  face,  as 
if  smitten  by  a  powerful  hand,  and  when  raised  up  by  kind 
friends  to  her  seat  again,  she  exclaimed  in  a  plaintive  wail  :  "  Oh 
my  soul  !  Oh,  my  soul ! "  Arrested  by  the  power  of  God,  she 
bowed  at  the  altar  of  mercy,  sought  the  forgiveness  of  her  sins 
and  obtained  salvation.  She  went  to  her  home  that  night  a  con- 
verted woman,  with  a  new  heart,  and  with  all  the  purposes  of  a 
new  life  firmly  fixed  in  her  soul,  for  it  is  said  that  a  great  revo- 
lution and  change,  took  place  in  her  dress,  appearance,  habit  and 
purpose  of  life,  and  that  when  she  appeared  at  the  church  the 
next  evening,  adornment,  tinsel  and  flowers,  were  all  gone,  and  she 
was  habited  in  modest  attire,  so  much  so,  that  she  would  have 
passed  for  one  of  the  plainest  Methodist  women  of  that  day. 
She  was  also  instrumental  in  the  conversion  of  her  mother,  and 
a  lady  friend  of  hers,  the  wife  of  a  prominent  merchant  in  the 
city.  It  is  said,  she  cast  off  her  jewelry,  while  kneeling  at  the 
altar,  and  refused  to  receive  it  back  again,  and  that  it  was  sold 
by  her  permission,  and  the  receipts  given  to  the  support  of  the  poor. 
Mrs.  Crafts  not  only  became  a  humble  and  devout  Christian,  but 
was  among  the  foremost  in  the  benevolencies  of  the  church,  and  gave 
liberally  of  her  means  and  personal  service,  to  advance  the  cause 
-of  Christ,  and  being  moved  in  the  line  of  good  works,  and  in 


MRS.  CRAFTS'  CONVERSION — AUXILIARIES.          115 

missionary  labor,  she  visited  the  poor,  the  afflicted  and  suffering, 
ministering  to  their  wants  and  relieving  their  necessities.  It 
seems  that  her  conversion  produced  a  wonderful  influence  in  favor 
of  Methodism,  and  opened  the  way  for  a  class  of  persons,  in  the 
city  who  had  formerly  regarded  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
but  little  more  than  a  place  for  the  commonality,  or  uneducated 
class  of  society,  but  now  the  church  was  blessed  with  the  acces- 
sion of  men  and  women,  whose  spiritual  and  financial  influence, 
and  ability,  have  been  most  potent  in  extending  her  borders  in 
every  section  of  the  city.  History  has  lost  sight  of  Mrs.  Crafts, 
and  perhaps  that  oblivious  wave  which  overwhelms  all  pre- 
sent things,  has  covered  her  mortal  remains  beneath  the 
friendly  sod,  and  her  spirit  has"  joined  the  spirit  of  the  man  of 
God  who  was  instrumental  in  her  conversion  in  another  world. 
The  last  tidings  received  from  her,  was,  that  she  remained  true 
to  God,  and  was  living  a  devoted,  active,  Christian  life.  Death 
has  long  since  removed  from  earth  both  her  mother,  Mrs.  Seal, 
and  the  friend,  Mrs.  Twells.  They  left  this  world,  giving  a 
blessed  testimony  of  their  hope  of  eternal  life. 

The  revival  flame  swept  onward  with  such  matchless  and 
unabated  power,  that  within  the  period  of  three  months,  it  was 
estimated  that  from  twelve  to  thirteen  hundred  conversions 
took  place,  out  of  which  seven  hundred  and  fifty  joined  St. 
George's,  and  fifty-three  of  the  number  converted,  entered  the 
ministry,  among  whom,  as  we  have  before  said,  were  the  Revds. 
and  Brothers  Corbit. 

Rev.  John  Street,  long  and  familiarly  known  in  Philadel- 
phia, and  who  for  many  years  occupied  the  appointment  of  city 
missionary,  and  labored  so  zealously  and  indefatigably,  for  the 
salvation  of  souls,  and  their  edification  in  grace,  with  his  most 
excellent  Christian  wife,  was  connected  with  St.  George's  Church 
about  this  time,  and  was  an  efficient  worker,  in  the  great  revival  of 
this  period,  and  Mr.  Pitman  put  him  in  charge  of  the  pulpit 
for  several  weeks,  while  he  gave  himself  wholly  to  the  work  of 


116  LIFE   OF   REV.    CHARLES   PITMAN,    D.D. 

the  revival,  and  to  the  visitation  of  the  penitents  and  sick  per- 
sons, and  the  special  duties  of  the  church. 

In  directing  Mr.  Street  to  provide  preachers  for  the  evening 
services,  Mr.  Pitman  told  him  to  secure  such  men  as  Revds. 
Caleb  A.  Lippincott,  Watters,  McCaskey  and  Tasker  to  fill  it. 
Of  the  former,  who  was  then  stationed  at  Germantown,  it  may 
be  said,  that  he  was  a  champion  and  a  hero  for  God,  a  master 
soul-winner,  who,  above  all  things  else,  knew  the  art  of 
bringing  sinners  to  Christ.  On  his  first  circuit  where  he  trav- 
eled in  New  Jersey,  eight  hundred  souls  had  been  converted, 
and  gathered  into  the  Church,  and  on  his  second  circuit  nearly, 
if  not  more  than  a  hundred  miles  from  the  former  one,  sixteen 
hundred  probationers  were  reported  to  the  Conference  as  the  fruit 
of  his  labor,  conjointly  with  his  colleague,  Rev.  Sedgewick  Rus- 
ling,  and  all  through  his  ministry,  whether  on  circuit  or  in 
stations,  he  was  blessed  in  his  labors  by  extensive  revivals  of 
religion.  He  was  a  master  of  the  human  heart,  and  seemed  to 
have  special  power  to  win  men  to  Christ.  At  times  he  would 
exhibit  a  deep  pathos,  that  would  stir  a  whole  assembly ;  then 
a  sly  sarcasm  or  bitter  irony  would  escape  his  lips,  that  seemed 
to  rebuke  sin,  more  than  the  utterances  of  a  thousand  Sinaitic 
thunders ;  then  would  come  such  an  outgush  of  boundless  be- 
nevolence, pathos  and  sympathy,  as  would  move  all  hearts 
towards  him  at  will.  It  was  then,  that  the  divine  Christ  stood 
before  him,  and  he  pointed  to  Him,  as  a  personal,  visible 
Saviour,  waiting  to  pardon  the  sinner,  and  to  receive  him  to 
himself.  This  magnificent  sun,  this  Jupiter  orb  of  gospel  power 
and  glory,  went  up  to  heaven,  in  the  midst  of  a  revival  blaze,  a 
few  years  ago  in  northern  New  Jersey,  where  he  was  laboring 
as  an  effective  minister  of  the  Newark  Conference,  crowned 
with  a  success  in  his  life-work,  unparalleled  and  unequalled,  in 
the  ministry  of  his  times.  This  was  the  man  that  Mr.  Pitman, 
sent  Rev.  John  Street,  to  secure,  to  aid  in  this  great  revival, 
and  it  has  been  said,  that  his  appeals  and  exhortations,  gave 


WONDERFUL  ACHIEVEMENTS — SECOND  YEARNS  LABOR.    117 

great  momentum  and  wide-spread,  if  not  almost  unlimited  in- 
fluence to  that  meeting.  Mr.  Pitman  well  knew  the  value  of 
such  an  auxiliary,  as  he  had  been  acquainted  with  him  in  Bur- 
lington County,  New  Jersey,  where  they  were  both  born,  and 
both  were  converted  within  a  few  miles  of  each  other,  and  it  has 
been  said  by  a  contemporary,  that  Mr.  Lippincott  was  con- 
verted under  the  ministry  of  Mr.  Pitman,  at  New  Mills,  now 
called  Pemberton,  New  Jersey. 

Pause  a  moment,  kind  reader,  over  the  achievements  of  this 
wonderful  work  of  God,  under  the  labors  of  his  faithful  servant. 
What  a  glorious  record  for  the  judgment  of  the  great  day ! 
Almost,  if  not  quite,  one  hundred  souls  were  converted  each 
week  of  the  meeting.  Who  would  not  have  desired  to  have 
witnessed  that  revival  ?  What  minister  of  Christ,  would  not 
have  coveted  the  distinguished  honor  of  such  a  work  for  the 
Master's  name  ?  If  any  man,  or  minister  of  the  gospel,  was 
ever  entitled  to  the  appellation  of  "  good  and  faithful  servant," 
that  man  was  Charles  Pitman,  and  now,  through  the  great  aton- 
ing mercy  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  he  is  reaping  the  reward  of 
his  labor  in  the  fruitions  of  everlasting  happiness. 

The  revival  flame  extended  through  the  winter  months  of 
1836  and  1837.  Conference  came  and  closed,  and  Mr.  Pitman 
was  re-appointed  to  St.  George's ;  but  so  extensive  and  over- 
lapping was  the  work  of  the  former  year  with  the  latter  year, 
that  it  was  hardly  perceptible  to  the  Church  that  a  conference 
year  had  passed,  and  another  had  begun ;  in  fact,  the  whole 
year  indicated  a  state  of  universal  prosperity,  and  the  Church 
was  in  a  constant  flame  of  revival  power.  Many  thrilling  scenes 
transpire  on  occasions  like  these,  which,  to  note  all,  would  seem 
like  a  superhuman  task.  The  revival  is  a  history  itself,  which 
would,  if  described  in  all  its  minutiae  and  detail  of  incident 
and  interest,  fill  a  volume.  Suffice  it,  then,  to  say,  in  the 
language  of  another :  "  The  house  seemed  to  be  charged  with 
divine  electricity,  and  the  moment  a  sinner  entered  it,  he  re- 


118  LIFE   OF   BEV.    CHARLES   PITMAN,    D.D. 

ceived  a  shock  which  sent  him  trembling  to  the  foot  of  the 
cross  for  pardoning  mercy  and  salvation." 

Mr.  Pitman  also  performed  an  unusual  amount  of  other  labor 
besides  preaching  the  gospel — conducting  the  long  and  extensive 
revival  services,  visiting  his  parishioners — now  numbering  from 
one  thousand  to  twelve  hundred  members — and  attending  to  the 
financial  matters,  connected  with  tbe  remodeling  and  repair- 
ing of  the  church.  He  baptized,  from  the  month  of  March, 
1836,  to  the  25th  March,  1838,  three  hundred  and  twenty- 
three  adults  and  children,  and  solemnized  during  his  pastoral 
term  two  hundred  and  seventeen  marriages,  beside  attending  to 
all  his  other  official  duties  and  numerous  outside  calls  of  special 
service. 

The  years  1836  and  1837  were  not  only  notable  in  the  his- 
tory of  Mr.  Pitman's  ministry  as  the  years  of  the  remodeling  of 
St.  George's  Church  edifice,  under  his  supervision,  and  of  the 
great  and  wonderful  revival  interest  that  followed,  but  also  in 
the  history  of  the  Philadelphia  Conference,  as  an  important 
epoch,  in  the  history  of  Methodism  in  New  Jersey,  rendered  so 
by  the  formation  of  the  New  Jersey  Conference,  at  the  General 
Conference,  holding  its  session  that  year  in  Cincinnati,  of  which 
Mr.  Pitman  was  a  delegate,  and  received  a  highly  complimentary 
vote  for  the  Bishopric. 

It  was  thought  at  the  time  when  the  preachers  of  the  New 
Jersey  Conference,  asked  to  be  separated  from  the  Philadelphia 
Conference,  and  to  be  recognized  as  a  distinct  Conference,  to  be 
a  bold  movement  on  their  part,  and  much  adverse  criticism  was 
indulged  in  by  the  opponents  of  the  movement.  It  was  said, 
"  New  Jersey  has  thus  set  up  for  herself."  "  They  will  always 
be  a  poor,  little  half-starved  Conference ;"  but  we  who  live  in  this 
day  see  the  contrary  of  this  prophecy.  The  New  Jersey  Con- 
ference has  not  only  most  nobly  sustained  herself,  as  a  Confer- 
ence, but  has  produced  some  of  the  ablest  and  most  successful 
ministers,  of  the  Church,  whose  talents,  genius,  and  popularity 


ORIGIN  AND  FORMATION  OF  THE  N.  J.  CONFERENCE.     119 

have  done  no  discredit  to  the  old  Philadelphia  Conference,  from 
whence  it  came,  and  has  long  since  redeemed  herself,  from  all 
the  odium  then  cast  upon  it,  and  now  stands  forth  receiving  the 
honorable  praise,  due  to  her  meritorious  exertions,  in  every  de- 
partment which  confers  distinction ;  and  her  two  Conferences 
now  embrace  more  appointments,  more  preachers,  and  more 
members  than  the  old  Philadelphia  Conference  does,  at  this 
time  (1887),  and  proportionally  is  in  advance  with  all  her  benev- 
olencies,  and  not  a  "  little  half-starved  Conference,"  by  any  means. 
"  From  1829  the  three  districts,  West  Jersey,  East  Jersey  and 
Asbury,  remained  intact,  and  were  the  nuclei  of  the  New  Jersey 
Conference  and  designated  its  boundaries.  The  territory  which 
was  embraced  in  these  three  districts,  became  the  original  New 
Jersey  Conference,  the  boundaries,  extending  somewhat  be- 
yond the  state  lines  into  New  York  and  Pennsylvania.  The 
Conference  was  formed  with  ninety-five  members,  and  held 
its  first  session  in  the  Halsey  Street  M.  E.  Church,  Newark,  N.  J., 
in  the  Spring  of  1837."*  Of  the  ninety-five  members  who  origi- 
nally composed  the  New  Jersey  Conference  at  its  formation, 
only  the  following  still  survive  (May,  1887) :  Rev.  Thomas 
Sovereign,  Rev.  Jeiferson  Lewis,  D.D.,  Rev.  Abraham  K. 
Street,  Rev.  Samuel  Jaquett,  and  Rev.  Charles  H.  Whitecar, 
D.D.  Of  the  Newark  Conference  :  Rev.  John  S.  Porter,  D.D., 
Rev.  P.  D.  Day,  Rev.  B.  Day,  Rev.  James  M.  Tuttle,  Rev. 
Crook  S.  Van  Cleve,  and.  Rev.  Anthony  Atwood,  now  the  oldest 
member  living  of  the  Philadelphia  Conference. 

Near  the  close  of  the  Conference  year  (1838)  a  noble  band 
of  Christian  heroes,  principally  from  St.  George's,  among 
whom  were  Revs.  John  Street,  Thomas  Butcher,  John  B.  Rob- 
inson, Benjamin  Whitecar,  James  D.  Park,  William  G.  Glee- 
ton,  Charles  W.  Zane,  Samuel  Sappington,  Davis  N.  Sinn, 
Thomas  Orrell,  William  G.  Mullin,  William  A.  Cannon,  Sam- 
uel W.  Cade,  John  Grace,  Timothy  J.  Dyre,  Lemuel  Osier, 

*  Rev.  A.  Gilmore,  Centennial  Sermon,  1866. 


120  LIFE   OF  EEV.   CHAELES  PITMAN,   D.l>. 

Hiram  Miller,  James  W.  Dyre,  William  G.  Sandy,  George  W. 
Ash,  John  A.  Clarke,  William  B.  Jackson,  Mr.  Brazee,  and 
others,  went  out  to  form  a  new  Society,  and  procure  a  house  of 
worship.  The  necessity  of  this  immigration  grew  out  of  the 
overcrowded  state  of  St.  George's,  in  consequence  of  the  great 
revival  of  religion  there,  during  the  two  years  preceding,  under 
Mr.  Pitman's  labors.  They  purchased  the  church  located  on 
Eighth  Street,  above  Noble,  which  was  originally  built  by  a 
society  of  Dutch  Reformed  people,  but,  failing  of  success,  it  was 
sold  to  the  Presbyterians,  and,  failing  in  their  hands,  it  was 
closed,  till  the  time  of  remodeling  and  repairing  St.  George's,  at 
which  time  the  Society  hired  it,  and  used  it,  during  the  repairs  of 
their  church,  and  later  it  was  considered  a  providential  opening, 
for  the  overflow  at  St.  George's ;  and,  as  a  large  number  of  the 
converts,  and  many  of  the  old  members,  lived  in  the  vicinity  of 
this  church,  it  was  decided  to  purchase  it,  and  thitherward  went 
some  seventy-five  members,  which  soon  increased  to  one  hundred 
and  twenty-seven  ;  and  they  went  to  the  Conference  that  spring 
(1838)  and  made  application  for  Mr.  Pitman,  for  they  could  not, 
as  they  said,  "  bear  the  thought  of  being  separated  from  him," 
and  they  believed,  that  the  success  of  the  new  enterprise  de- 
pended so  much  upon  him  "  that  no  other  preacher,  but  Brother 
Pitman  could  fill  that  place,  just  at  that  time,"  and  so  im- 
pressed was  the  Bishop  who  presided  at  the  Conference,  that  he 
assured  them,  that  Brother  Pitman  would  be  sent  to  them 
as  their  preacher  for  the  next  year.  So,  in  the  spring 
of  1838,  at  the  Conference  held  in  Philadelphia,  Mr.  Pit- 
man was  appointed  to  Eighth  Street  M.  E.  Church,  while 
Rev.  Joseph  Lybrand,  the  John  Fletcher  of  American  Method- 
ism, whose  most  saintly  life  and  character  made  such  a  deep  im- 
pression for  spiritual  good  on  so  many  hearts,  that  it  led  them  to 
Christ,  was  his  successor  to  feed  the  lambs  and  take  care  of  the 
flock  at  St.  George's;  and  no  man  within  the  bounds  of  the 
Methodist  connection,  in  this  country  was  better  qualified  for 


ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  EIGHTH  STREET  M.  E.  CHURCH.  121 

that  work,  than  Rev.  Joseph  Lybrand,  a  devout  and  holy  man 
of  God,  of  whom  the  mother  of  the  author  of  this  work  used  to 
say,  that  on  several  occasions  when  she  heard  him  preach,  it 
seemed  as  if  rays  of  glory  encircled  his  head,  and  lighted  up 
his  countenance,  with  a  heavenly  splendor,  while  he  was  preach- 
ing Christ  to  the  people. 

The  new  field  of  labor  was  a  trying  one  to  Mr.  Pitman.  The 
society  had  to  be  reconstructed  and  reorganized,  and  put  in  work- 
ing order,  and  on  a  good,  solid  basis ;  and  to  leave  a  well-organ- 
ized and  well-compacted  church,  as  was  St.  George's  at  that 
time,  and  other  stations  to  which  he  had  been  previously  appointed, 
and  to  leave  a  large  number  of  young  converts  and  personal 
friends,  was  a  trial,  and  an  ordeal,  that  was  calculated  to  try  the 
preacher's  feelings,  if  not  his  faith ;  but  however  sorely  he  may 
have  been  tried,  he  rose  above  all  seeming  embarrassment,  and 
with  his  wonted  zeal  and  energy,  poured  out  the  precious  gospel 
of  the  Son  of  God,  to  the  people,  and  his  church  was  soon  filled, 
not  only  with  his  warm  and  enthusiastic  admirers,  but  with  a 
host  of  the  followers  of  the  Lord  from  other  sections  of  the  city. 
Mr.  Pitman,  was  eminently  successful  in  this  new  organization, 
and  in  the  following  fall,  a  flame  of  revival  broke  out,  and  two 
hundred  and  forty-eight  souls  were  converted  and  joined  the 
church,  making  an  aggregate  number,  within  a  little  over  two 
years,  of  nine  hundred  and  ninety-eight  souls,  who  were  added 
to  the  church,  and  considering  the  numbers  that  found  their  way 
to  other  churches,  it  is  believed  that  nearly,  if  not  fully,  fifteen 
hundred  souls  were  converted  under  his  ministry  within  a  little 
over  two  years.  The  success  that  attended  his  labors  in  the  last- 
named  charge  established  it  upon  a  firm  foundation,  and  the  new 
organization,  known  as  the  Eighth  Street  M.  E.  Church  of  Phila- 
delphia, had  a  long  and  successful  career,  returning  an  hundred- 
fold for  the  labor  and  expense  of  the  enterprise,  and  having 
served  the  purposes  of  our  church  in  its  day  and  generation,  by 
the  will  of  God,  it  has  passed  into  that  oblivious  sleep  that  is 


122  LIFE   OF   REV.    CHARLES   PITMAN,  D.D. 

fast  burying  its  memories  in  the  grave    of  human  forgetful- 
ness. 

During  the  Conference  year  of  1838  and  '39  there  arose  a 
question  among  some  of  Mr.  Pitman's  ministerial  brethren  about 
the  legality  of  the  appointment,  made  by  the  Bishop,  of  Mr. 
Pitman  to  the  Eighth  Street  charge,  which  he  was  then  serving, 
and  of  their  being  almost  wholly  the  same  people,  that  he  had 
served  the  previous  two  years,  and  also,  his  third  appointment 
consecutively  to  a  station  in  the  city.  As  the  law  then  existed, 
it  seemed  to  require  his  removal  from  the  city  at  the  end  of  his 
second  ministerial  term,  and  the  question  was,  Could  a  charge 
or  church  divide,  and  a  part  of  it  organize  another  church  or 
society,  and  still  retain  the  former  pastor  as  its  preacher? 
The  matter  was  submitted  to  Bishop  "VVaugh,  the  presiding  Bishop 
of  the  ensuing  Conference,  whose  opinion,  when  it  became  known, 
placed  legal  barriers  in  the  way  of  Mr.  Pitman's  return  to  the 
Eighth  Street  Church,  the  coming  year,  and  though  petitions 
were  largely  circulated  among  the  very  best  citizens  of  that  lo- 
cality, and  numerously  signed,  in  hope  of  changing  the  niind  of 
the  Bishop  it  was  of  no  avail,  and  the  Bishop,  as  he  thought, 
seeing  a  constitutional  difficulty  in  the  way,  said  "  he  could  not 
return  him  to  the  Eighth  Street  charge,  no  matter  who  or  how 
many  asked  to  have  it  done." 

It  must  not  be  supposed,  however,  that  this  was  an  exercise 
of  arbitrary  power  on  the  part  of  the  Bishop,  but,  as  he  be- 
lieved, a  just  adherence  to  the  law,  which,  as  he  said,  "must  be 
observed  in  Brother  Pitman's  case,  as  well  as  in  reference  to  the 
humblest  minister  in  the  church."  When,  therefore,  the  Phila- 
delphia Conference  met  in  1839,  Mr.  Pitman  was  transferred 
to  the  New  Jersey  Conference,  and  subsequently  stationed 
in  'Green  Street  M.  E.  Church,  Trenton,  which  had  just 
been  completed  under  the  labors  and  administration  of  Rev. 
A.  Atwood.  This  closed  Mr.  Pitman's  relations  with  the  Phila- 
delphia Conference,  and  he  never  returned  to  the  State,  or  city, 


RETURN  TO  NEW  JERSEY.  123 

to  reside,  or  labor  again,  in  an  official  connection  with  the  Confer- 
ence. No  sooner  had  it  been  made  known  that  Mr.  Pitman  in- 
tended to  return  to  the  New  Jersey  Conference,  than  several  of 
the  most  prominent  churches  within  the  bounds  of  the  Conference 
expressed  a  desire  to  have  him  sent  to  them  as  their  pastor. 
New  Brunswick,  Bridgeton,  Burlington,  Camdeii,  Salem,  Pem- 
berton,  Mount  Holly  and  Trenton  were  anxious  to  secure  his 
ministrations;  but  as  the  needs  of  Trenton  just  at  that  time 
seemed  to  present  a  greater  demand  for  the  popular  ministry 
and  efficient  services  of  some  prominent  man,  especially  so  as 
they  had  taken  a  decidedly  advanced  step  in  church  building,  it 
was  deemed,  by  the  bishop  and  his  advisory  council,  best  to  ap- 
point Mr.  Pitman  to  the  Green  St.  Church,  Trenton,  and  most 
happily  and  successfully  did  the  appointment  prove  a  blessing  to 
both  preacher  and  people. 

Mr.  Pitman  was  the  recipient  of  a  large  number  of  letters 
both  from  his  friends  in  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania  and  else- 
where. He  seemed  to  enjoy  correspondence  with  the  preachers, 
and  not  unfrequently  these  letters  would  partake  of  descriptions 
of  God's  work  among  the  churches,  or  discussions  on  theological 
subjects.  The  latter  had  the  tendency  to  disseminate  doctrinal 
belief,  and  furnish  matter  for  argument,  which  the  exigency  of 
the  times  demanded,  and  whatever  may  have  been  the  kind  or 
character  of  the  letters  which  he  wrote  on  such  occasions,  it  is 
worthy  of  mention  that  he  invariably  used  the  most  respectful 
terms  in  addressing  a  brother,  commencing  the  letter  with 
"Dear  Brother,"  and  closing  it  with  the  endearing  superscrip- 
tion,— "  Yours  affectionately."  It  was  thus  that  the  recipient 
was  made  to  feel  that  he  had  received  a  communication  from  a 
friend  and  Christian,  which  added  much  to  the  influence  and 
effect  of  the  communication  upon  the  mind  and  heart  of  the 
recipient,  and  is  a  consideration  which  always  will  secure  re- 
spectful reading  and  deference. 


CHAPTEE  IX. 

MR.    PITMAN    A    MEMBER   OF   THE   NEW   JERSEY   CONFERENCE. 

AT  the  close  of  the  Philadelphia  Conference  in  1839,  Mr. 
Pitman,  as  we  have  before  stated,  was  transferred  to  the 
New  Jersey  Conference,  and  when  that  body  met,  which  was 
subsequent  to  the  session  of  the  Philadelphia  Conference,  Mr. 
Pitman  was  stationed  in  the  new,  commodious  and  beautiful 
church  in  Green  Street,  Trenton,  which  had  just  been  completed 
under  the  pastoral  administration  and  labor  of  Rev.  A.  Atwood, 
and  at  that  time  was  considered  quite  an  ornament  to  the 
city,  as  well  as  a  marked  indication  of  the  growth  and  develop- 
ment of  Methodism,  and  a  great  credit  to  the  liberality  of  the 
people.  Multitudes  flocked  to  hear  Mr.  Pitman  preach  ;  the 
new  church,  which  was  supposed  to  be  ample  to  accommodate 
all  the  people  the  most  popular  preacher  might  draw  to  hear 
the  gospel,  was  crowded  to  excess,  and  a  great  ingathering  of 
souls  was  the  result  in  the  following  fall  and  winter. 

While  Mr.  Pitman  was  stationed  in  Trenton,  and  during  the 
time  of  the  revival,  which  so  signally  marked  his  labors  in 
Green  Street  Church,  a  young  lady  by  the  name  of  Hunt,  a 
daughter  of  a  wealthy  and  influential  farmer  living  in  Law- 
renceville,  attended  his  church,  and  was  converted,  as  was  sub- 
sequently her  sister.  Soon  after  her  conversion,  she  made 
arrangements,  and,  with  her  father's  consent,  invited  Mr.  Pit- 
man to  come  out  to  their  village  and  preach,  and  that  her  fam- 
ily would  gladly  tender  to  him  their  large  and  commodious 
rooms  in  their  farm-house  for  that  purpose.  Mr.  Pitman  ac- 
cepted the  invitation,  and  soon  Mr.  Hunt's  house  was  crowded 
with  quite  a  congregation  of  people;  a  class  was  formed,  and 
124 


STATIONED   AT   GREEN   STREET,   TRENTON.  125 

regular  preaching  at  this  house  was  kept  up  for  over  two  years, 
when  it  was  decided  to  build  a  church,  and  after  the  enterprise 
was  completed,  it  was  severed  from  the  Green  Street  charge, 
but  subsequently,  with  other  work,  was  made  into  a  sep- 
arate charge.  A  few  years  ago,  owing  to  the  sparse  number  of 
Methodists  in  the  neighborhood — the  influence  of  a  large  sister 
denomination — the  church  was  taken  down  and  removed  from 
its  old  site  (where  now  the  burial-ground  remains),  and  brought 
down  near  Lawrence  Mills,  at  a  village  called  Bakersville, 
which  is  now  connected  with  the  Hamilton  Square  appoint- 
ment, and  stands  in  the  angle  of  the  road  leading  from  Trenton 
to  Princeton,  and  the  road  from  Lawrence  Mills  to  Lawrence- 
ville.  The  names  of  the  young  women  who  first  projected  this 
enterprise  were  Mary  and  Eliza  Hunt.  It  answered  its  day  and 
generation,  and  accomplished  its  mission  in  its  former  place  of 
occupancy. 

Rev.  William  P.  Corbit,  in  whose  conversion  Mr.  Pitman 
had  been  instrumental  a  few  years  before,  was  a  student  under 
Mr.  Pitman,  while  he  was  stationed  in  Trenton,  for  the  minis- 
try, and  was  engaged  with  him  in  these  revival  services,  and 
here  rendered  his  first  public  efforts  in  his  ministerial  career, 
upon  which  God  did,  in  his  after-life,  so  eminently  put  the 
seal  of  His  divine  approval,  and  now,  after  a  ministry  of  nearly 
fifty  years,  in  which  service  he  has  performed  some  of  the  most 
wonderful  efforts  in  preaching  Christ  and  winning  souls  to  the 
Master's  name,  he  stands  as  a  prince  and  peer  among  his  minis- 
terial brethren,  crowned  with  the  honors  of  the  seventies  in 
human  life,  with  his  eye  not  dimmed  with  age,  nor  his  natural 
force  seemingly  abated,  and  for  native  talent,  a  rich  and  profuse 
endowment  of  descriptive  imagery,  a  sublime  and  magnificent 
conception  of  the  grand  and  beautiful  as  gorgeous  as  the  au- 
tumnal forest,  as  exuberant  as  the  stars  of  heaven  in  the  glow 
of  their  resplendent  brightness,  as  profuse  in  delineation  as  a 
comet  flashing  his  scintillations  of  light  across  the  midnight  sky, 


126  LIFE  OF   REV.   CHARLES   PITMAN,   D.D. 

and  with  a  voice  as  expansive  in  compass  as  the  echo  of  thun- 
der rolling  through  mid-heaven,  heavy  in  sonorousness  like  the 
crush  of  an  avalanche,  and  deep  in  its  pathos  as  the  dirge  of  a 
funeral  bell,  mellow  in  its  sympathetic  tones  as  the  cadences  of 
a  mountain  water-fall,  and  impressive  as  a  gentle  zephyr  sweep- 
ing through  a  woodland  glen — this  scion  of  nature's  handiwork, 
in  his  bold  and  intrepid  spirit,  has  done  the  work  of  a  cham- 
pion and  chieftain,  on  this  moral  battle-field  of  New  Jersey,  that 
will  perpetuate  his  name  through  generations  yet  to  come,  and 
will  crowd  the  gates  of  heaven  with  a  multitude  of  redeemed 
souls  that  have  blessed  earth,  and  will  brighten  heaven  by  their 
presence  and  rejoicings  "  While  life,  and  thought,  and  being  lasts 
or  immortality  endures." 

How  many  were  converted  under  Mr.  Pitman's  labors  in  the 
great  revival  at  Green  Street  Church,  Trenton,  we  have  not  the 
means  for  ascertaining  at  the  present;  but  it  is  believed  that 
there  were  scores,  if  not  hundreds,  and  after  a  careful  estimate 
that  has  been  made  of  his  labors  from  data  left  by  him,  and 
compiled  at  the  close  of  his  work  in  Green  Street  Church, 
the  number  is  given  as  about  six  thousand  seven  hundred  and 
fifty  souls,  up  to  this  period  of  his  ministry,  besides  the  many 
who  found  their  way  to  other  societies  and  denominations,  which 
can  never  be  known  until  that  great  gathering  day,  when  the 
myriads  of  God's  elect  shall  be  summoned  before  His  "  great 
white  throne "  to  receive  their  crowns  of  everlasting  life,  and  to 
reign  in  His  kingdom  forever  and  ever. 

"For  a  number  of  years  Mr.  Pitman's  peculiar  adaptation 
and  eminent  ability  for  special  services,  such  as  the  laying  of 
corner-stones  and  the  dedication  of  churches,  had  been  manifest 
to  the  Methodist  public,  and  his  calls  for. labor  on  such  occa- 
sions were  numerous.  The  period  of  his  sojourn  in  Trenton  was 
not  an  exception  to  this  kind  of  service.  About  this  period 
a  large  number  of  those  plain,  old-fashioned,  God-honored 
churches,  erected  and  occupied  with  so  much  religious  faith 


APPLICATIONS  TO   PERFORM   DEDICATORY  SERVICES.     127 

and  fervor  by  our  fathers,  had  served  their  day  and  genera- 
tion, and  were  passing  away,  while  a  new  era  in  architec- 
ture had  come.  Buildings  more  commodious,  more  costly 
and  better  adapted  to  the  growing  interests  of  our  Zion  were 
rising  on  every  hand.  At  that  time  but  few  of  those  within 
a  circle  of  several  hundred  miles  were  opened  where  he  did  not 
take  some  part  in  the  dedicatory  services.  Rev.  Wm.  P.  Cor- 
bit,  who  spent  a  year  in  study,  with  Mr.  Pitman  while  in 
Trenton,  states  that  he  thinks,  that  his  calls  for  such  labors 
while  there  averaged  three  per  month,  and  during  some  of  the 
later  periods  of  his  ministry,  he  often  attended  three  in  a  single 
week.  There  were  few  churches  erected  in  New  Jersey  between 
the  years  1825  and  1850  whose  walls  did  not  first  echo  with 
the  gospel  from  the  lips  of  Charles  Pitman."  * 

It  would  not  only  complete  a  chapter,  but  would  fill  a  vol- 
ume, to  notice  all  the  dedication  services  performed  by  Mr. 
Pitman  during  the  thirty  years  of  his  ministry,  and  for  which, 
during  the  latter  ten  or  twelve  years,  he  was  sought  so  fre- 
quently to  perform  this  kind  of  special  service.  In  another 
chapter  we  shall  speak  of  Mr.  Pitman  as  a  church  dedicator, 
and  shall  give  some  further  account  of  these  dedications,  and  of 
the  special  interest  attending  them. 

In  the  year  1841,  near  the  close  of  the  term  of  Mr.  Pitman's 
ministerial  service  in  Trenton,  a  vacancy,  it  was  under- 
stood, would  occur  in  the  secretaryship  of  the  Missionary  So- 
ciety of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  by  resignation  of 
Rev.  Dr.  Bangs,  which  was  to  take  effect  at  the  ensuing  ses- 
sion of  the  New  York  Conference.  It  soon  became  cur- 
rent among  the  ministers  that  Mr.  Pitman  would  be  the 
proper  man  to  fill  that  place,  and  he  received  letters  from  sev- 
eral prominent  officials  concerning  his  views  about  accepting 
the  office.  Says  a  distinguished  contemporary :  "  While  Mr. 
Pitman  was  not  insensible  of  the  honor  such  a  position  would 
*  Rev.  E.  H.  Stokes,  D.D.,  Conference  Memorial,  p.  259. 


128  LIFE   OF   REV.   CHARLES   PITMAN,    D.D. 

confer,  he  knew  its  responsibilities  were  great,  and  feeling  that 
his  mission  was  more  directly  to  preach  the  gospel  for  the  im- 
mediate conversion  of  sinners,  and  the  general  upbuilding  of 
the  church  of  God,  he  declined  entertaining  the  proposition ; 
and  when  the  New  Jersey  Conference  of  1841,  adjourned,  he 
was  appointed  by  Bishop  Hedding  Presiding  Elder  of  the  Tren- 
ton District.  He  immediately  entered  upon  the  duties  assigned 
him,  when,  in  June  following,  on  the  assembling  of  the  New 
York  Conference — with  which  at  that  time  was  vested  the 
power  of  filling  vacancies,  in  the  General  Conference  offices,  in 
the  interval  of  its  sessions,  and  that  the  person  so  elected  should 
be  a  member  of  the  Conference,  so  vested  with  this  power — Mr. 
Pitman  was  transferred  to  the  New  York  Conference,  that 
he  might  be  a  candidate  to  election  for  this  high  office ; 
and,  notwithstanding  his  expressed  reluctance,  he  was  elected 
corresponding  secretary  of  the  Missionary  Society  of  the  M.  E. 
Church,  for  the  unexpired  term  of  Dr.  Bangs,  and  subse- 
quently was  elected  to  the  same  office  by  the  General  Conferences 
of  1844  and  1848,*  and  when  elected  by  the  General  Conference 
of  1844,  he  was  re-transferred  to  the  New  Jersey  Conference. 

"  It  was  a  position  of  great  importance,  involving  interests 
wide-spread  and  extensive  as  the  Redeemer's  kingdom  on  earth, 
and  yet,  whatever  his  own  views  and  preferences  in  these  mat- 
ters were,  now  that  he  was  called  by  the  voice  of  the  Church, 
the  obligations  were  felt  too  strongly  to  allow  him  to  refuse. 
He,  therefore,  accepted  the  position  and  moved  his  family  to 
New  York,  and  commenced  his  arduous  and  onerous  duties. 

"  His  thoughts  and  labors  now,  to  a  large  extent,  were  drift- 
ing in  a  channel  new  and  strange — the  general  oversight  and 
direction,  under  the  advice  of  the  board  of  managers,  of  all  the 
missions  in  connection  with  our  Church,  together  with  the  pro- 
motion of  the  financial  interests  connected  therewith,  devolved, 
to  a  great  extent,  on  him.  In  the  prosecution  of  his  work  he 

*  Ibid.  Memorial  Volume. 


CORRESPONDING  SECRETARY.  129 

traveled  far  and  wide,  and  a  new  impulse  was  given  to  this 
divine  cause,  which,  under  the  administration  of  wise  and  judi- 
cious successors,  has  continued  to  increase  to  the  present  day. 

"  But,  though  his  inind  was  largely  engrossed  in  these  mat- 
ters, he  found  time  for  the  more  direct  work  of  a  gospel  min- 
ister. The  next  year  after  his  appointment  to  the  secretaryship 
of  the  Missionary  Society  he  dedicated  twelve  churches,  in 
widely  different  localities,  preached  every  Sabbath,  unless  pre- 
vented by  illness,  and  oftentimes  through  the  week,  sometimes 
in  Boston  in  the  east,  and  at  Petersburg  at  the  south — every- 
where calling  sinners  to  repentance  and  building  up  the  Church, 
in  its  most  holy  faith.  These  opportunities  were  made  feasible, 
in  the  intervals  of  his  official  business,  the  large  proportion  of 
his  time  being  taken  up  with  missionary  sermons,  addresses, 
collections,  reports,  correspondence,  plannings  and  such  interests 
as  the  work  demanded. 

"  But  we  cannot,  however,  examine  into  the  details  of  his 
missionary  work  during  the  nine  years  of  his  secretaryship. 
That  which  he  did  in  one  year,  he  did  the  next,  with  this 
difference ;  that,  like  the  waves  when  the  pebble  has  been  dropped 
into  the  smooth  water,  circling  wider  and  wider  till  they  reach 
the  shore,  so  he  enlarged  and  increased  the  circle  of  his  toils, 
until,  reaching  the  shore  of  human  weakness,  he  could  toil  no 
more." 

"  If,  then,  we  take  the  year  1843 — the  third  of  his  new  posi- 
tion— as  one  of  the  early  or  inner  circles,  of  his  missionary 
labors,  when  he  traveled  six  thousand  miles,  delivered  forty-one 
sermons,  thirty  missionary  addresses,  dedicated  six  churches, 
and  collected  ten  thousand  dollars,  and  that,  too,  at  a  time 
when  missionary  funds  were  contributed  with  a  hand  very 
much  less  liberal  than  now  ;  then  enlarge  these  labors,  each 
year  in  proportion  as  the  missionary  cause  enlarged,  and  took  a 
stronger  hold  upon  the  judgment  and  sympathies  of  the  Church; 
also  remembering  that  his  calls  to  corner-stone  laying,  dedica- 
9 


130  LIFE   OF   REV.    CHARLES   PITMAN,    D.D. 

tions,  camp-meetings  and  protracted  efforts — of  which  we  shall 
speak  hereafter — were  augmenting  rather  than  diminishing, 
we  shall  have  some  idea  of  his  work  during  the  six  years  suc- 
ceeding 1843." 

"  But  the  labors  just  enumerated,  are  such  only  as  appear 
upon  the  surface,  and  could  readily  be  seen  by  the  Church. 
They  do  not  include  the  drudgery  of  the  office,  the  wide-spread 
correspondence,  the  editorial  supervision  of  the  Missionary  Ad- 
vocate, the  preparation  of  reports,  the  devising  of  large  and 
liberal  schemes  of  benevolence,  and  the  urging  of  these  upon 
the  attention  of  Annual  Conferences,  in  which  to  give  a  prac- 
tical application  and  development,  of  all  the  schemes  in  the 
churches  throughout  our  wide-spread  territory ;  the  entertain- 
ment of  missionaries,  assisting  them  in  their  outfit  for  their 
voyages  and  travels,  supervising  their  embarkation  and  depar- 
ture— these,  and  a  thousand  other  things,  which  even  good  men 
could  neither  understand,  nor  appreciate,  added  to  his  labors  in 
the  pulpit  and  on  the  platform,  made  up  a  weight  of  toil  and 
care,  too  great  to  be  long  endured."  * 

In  the  year  1844  the  University  of  North  Carolina  honored 
Mr.  Pitman  with  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity,  and  a 
communication  which  came  to  him  while  in  his  work  at  the 
Mission  Rooms  in  New  York,  was  as  follows  : 

"  To  REV.  CHARLES  PITMAN, 

"  METHODIST  MISSION  BOOMS,  NEW  YORK. 
"  REV.  AND  VERY  DEAR  SIR  : 

"  It  gives  me  pleasure  to  communicate  to  you  officially  that  the  Aca- 
demic Senate  of  the  University  of  North  Carolina,  conferred  upon  you 
the  honorary  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity,  on  the  6th  inst.,  in  Gerad 
Hall,  at  the  annual  commencement  of  the  institution. 

"  Allow  me  to  embrace  this  occasion,  to  tender  an  expression  of  the 
high  regard,  for  you  sincerely  cherished  by 

"  Yours,  affectionately  and  obediently, 

"  CHARLES  F.  DEEMS. 
"  University  of  North  Carolina,  June  10th,  1844." 

*Ibid,  New  Jersey  Conference  Memorial,  pp.  261-263. 


DEGREE  OF  DOCTOR  OF  DIVINITY  CONFERRED.  131 

"  In  regard  to  the  honor  thus  bestowed,  it  may  be  added,  that 
although  he  never  manifested  any  fondness  for  such  things,  yet, 
as  it  came  unsought,  he  received  it  in  silence,  as  an  expression 
of  kind  regard,  and  wore  it  without  resistance  to  the  end  of  his 
earthly  pilgrimage ;  but,  if  a  deep,  practical,  and  to  some  ex- 
tent, critical  knowledge  of  the  word  of  God ;  if  power  to  preach 
that  word,  so  that  sinners  in  great  multitudes  were  converted 
and  the  Church  built  up  ;  if  a  thorough  knowledge  of  theology 
and  church  usages,  in  his  own  and  other  communions,  and  a 
burning  love  for  Christ  and  His  cause,  constitute  claims  for 
such  distinction,  Charles  Pitman  possessed  them  all,  and  was,  in 
the  highest  and  truest  sense,  a  '  Doctor  of  Divinity/  entitled  to 
all  the  honors  which  such  a  degree  could  confer  upon  him." 

Dr.  Pitman  was  not  only  eminently  evangelical,  but  he  was 
actively  aggressive  in  his  official  oversight  of  the  great  mis- 
sionary work  of  the  Church,  and  of  new  and  promising  fields. 
Of  this  class  was  Texas.  This  vast  area  had  but  recently  been 
separated  from  Mexico  by  a  revolution,  induced  by  the  attempt 
of  that  government,  which  was  Roman  Catholic,  to  impose  upon 
the  emigrants  from  the  United  States,  and  other  citizens  to 
whom  its  settlement  had  been  opened,  the  obligation  of  baptism 
and  marriage  as  celebrated  by  the  Catholic  priests  of  its  estab- 
lished church,  together  with  other  grievances  of  a  local  character. 

The  annexation  of  the  "  Young  Republic  "  to  the  United  States 
subsequently  followed,  and  Texas  became  an  object  of  Christian 
and  Protestant  solicitude  to  the  church  and  authorities  of  our 
Methodism.  The  field  was  "white  to  the  harvest"  and  in- 
viting to  the  reapers.  Years  before  Dr.  Pitman  entered  upon 
his  secretaryship  of  the  parent  missionary  society,  bold,  adven- 
turous men  of  our  own  communion  opened  up  aggressive  work 
in  the  newly-acquired  Territory,  and  so  far  succeeded  up  to  this 
period  as  to  have  there  an  organized  Conference,  with  four 
districts — Rutersville,  Galveston,  St.  Augustine  and  Lake  Loda; 
and,  as  reported  in  1845,  when  Bishop  Janes  presided,  5085 


132  LIFE  OF   REV.   CHARLES   PITMAN,    D.D. 

white  members  and  1005  colored,  and  65  local  preachers — in 
all  6155  were  in  church  fellowship  with  us. 

This  was  the  attitude  of  our  Methodism,  as  supported  by  one 
or  more  newly-founded  literary  institutions,  when*  Dr.  Pitman 
led  the  missionary  column.  From  reports  that  indicate  the 
further  availability  of  the  field  and  its  needs,  received  from  the 
Presiding  Elders  of  districts  within  the  bounds  of  the  new  Ter- 
ritory, and  the  Conference  there  organized,  he  was  impressed 
with  its  importance,  and  foresaw  its  luxuriant  future,  if  the 
Church  was  faithful  to  its  high  trust. 

As  a  wise  and  progressive  leader,  Dr.  Pitman  called  for  men 
and  increased  means,  feeling  assured  that  the  growth  of  the 
success,  would  bring  its  compensations  in  a  rich  harvest  in  after 
years.  His  foresight  and  assurances  have  their  affirmation  in 
these  years  of  results.  The  enlargement  he  sought,  and  that  the 
church  has  supplied,  together  with  auxiliary  aids,  has  not  only 
established  our  Methodism  in  large  numbers  in  Texas,  but  has 
fixed  a  strong  Protestant  influence  on  the  border  of  Catholic 
Mexico,  which  has  exerted,  and  still  is  exerting,  a  transitional 
influence  upon  its  political  polity  and  religious  condition,  and 
that,  instead  of  Catholic  Mexico  conducting  aggressive  move- 
ments upon  our  citizens  and  territory  in  the  South  and  South- 
west, we  have  Protestantized  Texas  by  a  united  effort  in  the 
several  Christian  churches,  and  are  now  planting  our  forces  on 
her  own  territory  and  within  her  capital. 

Well  did  Dr.  Pitman  sustain,  in  his  breadth  of  view,  the 
policy  of  his  predecessor,  Dr.  Bangs,  and  thus  contribute  his 
part  to  the  grand  triumph,  that  adorns  Texas  with  the  light  of 
the  glory  of  the  Lord,  and  indicates  for  the  old  benighted  em- 
pire of  Mexico,  beside  an  advance  to  a  "republic"  and  higher 
civilization,  a  transition  into  a  tolerant  Christian  and  an  open 
Bible  land.  It  is  to  such  leaders  as  Dr.  Bangs,  Dr.  Pitman,  Dr. 
Durbin,  Dr.  Eddy  and  Dr.  Reed,  and  their  associates,  that  we 
owe  our  success  as  a  branch  of  the  Christian  Protestant  propag- 
andisin,  now  so  gloriously  advancing  to  a  world-wide  conquest. 


CHAPTER  X. 

FURTHER  ACCOUNT  OF   DR.  PITMAN'S   MISSIONARY    LABOR. 

AS  Mr.  Pitman  had  now  become  Dr.  Pitman,  by  the  action 
of  "the  Academic  Senate  of  the  University  of  North 
Carolina,"  we  shall  hereafter  speak  of  him  with  that  distin- 
guished title.  Dr.  Pitman,  as  we  have  before  observed,  was 
not  only  an  energetic  and  effective  pastor,  and  active,  efficient 
and  untiring  Presiding  Elder,  but  he  carried  the  same  zeal  and 
earnestness  into  the  missionary  work  in  all  of  its  departments, 
and  ceased  not  his  vigilant  efforts  from  the  commencement  to 
the  close  of  his  period  of  office,  and  that,  when  in  an  office  that 
might  have  invited  ease  and  exemption  from  exposure,  and  from 
the  inclement  elements,  he  attended  missionary  meetings  far 
and  near,  and  was  remarkably  active  in  securing  collections 
for  the  society.  We  adduce  an  account  of  a  few  of  the  many 
meetings  of  this  kind  that  might  be  named,  as  being  of  special 
interest  to  our  readers. 

A  meeting  of  this  kind  was  held  in  Rahway,  New  Jersey, 
on  the  evening  of  January  9, 1842,  in  which  Revs.  Dr.  Pitman, 
Brown,  Sargent,  and  the  pastor,  Rev.  Felch,  participated.  The 
account  of  it,  which  we  subjoin,  is  from  an  article  in  the  Christian 
Advocate  and  Journal,  and  was  written  by  Dr.  Pitman  himself, 
and,  therefore,  the  more  interesting  and  valuable  to  our  readers. 

"NEW  YORK,  January  24, 1842. 
"  EDITORS  : 

"Believing  that  missionary  intelligence  is  always  acceptable  to  you, 
as  well  as  to  your  numerous  readers,  I  will  do  myself  the  pleasure,  and 
the  friends  of  missions  the  justice,  of  presenting  you  with  a  short  ac- 
count of  a  missionary  meeting  held  in  Rahway,  N.  J..  on  the  evening  of 
the  9th  inst.  No  previous  arrangement  having  been  made  for  the  meet- 

133 


134  LIFE   OP   KEV.    CHARLES   PITMAN,   D.D. 

ing,  our  visit  was  entirely  unexpected.  On  our  arrival  at  the  place,  on 
Saturday  evening,  we  learned  that  an  extra  effort  was  in  progress, 
which  had  been  going  on  in  successful  operation  for  several  weeks,  and 
that  the  Rev.  Thomas  B.  Sargent,  D.D.,  of  the  Baltimore  Conference, 
was  there  for  the  purpose  of  assisting  the  pastor  in  this  good  work.  Fully 
aware  of  the  great  and  well-earned  popularity  of  this  beloved  brother, 
and  especially  in  Rahway,  and  of  the  strong  desire  in  that  community 
to  hear  him  as  frequently  as  possible  during  his  short  stay  among  them, 
we  were  on  the  point  of  taking  the  cars  and  returning  to  New  York- 
But,  as  the  cars  did  not  pass  through  that  place  until  late  in  the  evening, 
we  concluded  to  walk  to  the  church  and  avail  ourselves  of  the  privi- 
lege of  hearing  a  sermon  from  Brother  Sargent.  This  we  did,  to  our 
very  great  pleasure  and  profit.  On  learning  the  object  of  our  visit, 
Brothers  Sargent,  Felch,  and  several  of  the  official  members  of  the  church 
all  united  in  an  urgent  request  that  we  should  stay  and  hold  the  mis- 
sionary meeting  on  the  ensuing  Sabbath  evening.  To  this  request  we 
most  cheerfully  yielded. 

"  On  Sabbath  morning  we  had  the  high  privilege  of  listening  to  a 
most  eloquent  and  powerful  sermon  by  Brother  Sargent,  on  the  fall  and 
restoration  of  Peter.  In  the  afternoon  the  pulpit  was  occupied  by 
myself.  In  the  evening  the  church  was  densely  crowded,  even  to  over- 
flowing. The  meeting  was  opened  with  the  usual  exercises,  by  the  cor- 
responding secretary  of  the  Missionary  Society.  Brother  George  S. 
Brown,  who  had  accompanied  me  from  New  York,  delivered  a  powerful 
address,  in  which,  in  his  usual  simplicity  and  energy  of  style,  the  claims 
of  poor,  ill-fated  Africa  were  affectingly  and  successfully  advocated. 
Brother  [Sargent  succeeded  him  with  a  most  thrilling  and  effective 
appeal  in  favor  of  missionary  enterprise,  and  a  few  remarks  were  added 
by  myself,  at  the  close  of  which  the  collection  was  called  for,  and  after 
a  liberal  collection,  it  was  proposed  to  raise  the  sum  of  thirty  dollars,  to 
educate,  for  one  year,  a  native  African  boy,  to  bear  the  name  of  Isaac  N. 
Felch.  This  was  promptly  responded  to.  Another  proposition  was 
immediately  started  to  confer  the  same  honor  on  our  worthy  brother, 
Rev.  Thomas  B.  Sargent.  This  was  also  sustained  with  great  prompti- 
tude and  spirit.  Other  benefactions  were  made,  and  the  sum  realized 
was  about  one  hundred  dollars,  which  was  a  very  good  collection  for 
that  place.  I  acknowledge  myself  greatly  indebted  to  the  two  brethren 
above  named  for  their  very  efficient  co-operation  in  all  the  exercises, 
and  I  am  happy  in  being  able  to  say,  that  in  every  place  I  have  visited 
in  my  official  character  the  same  spirit  has  been  generally  manifested. 
Let  us  thank  God  and  take  courage.  The  tide  of  missionary  feeling  is 


ACTIVE   MISSIONARY   LABOR.  135 

rising;  the  intelligence  from  various  quarters  is  most  cheering;  the 
friends  of  missions  are  awake  and  greatly  increasing  both  in  numbers 
and  zealous  effort,  and  I  verily  believe  the  period  is  not  very  far  distant 
when  our  present  debt  will  be  liquidated  and  our  treasury  abundantly 
replenished.  May  a  new  and  more  powerful  impetus  be  given  to  this 
holy  cause  throughout  our  widely-extended  connection,  and  in  every 
department  of  the  Christian  Church-" 

Another  account  we  have  of  Di>  Pitman's  travels  is  a  trip  to 
Connecticut  on  January  25,  1842,  in  which  two  dedications 
were  combined  with  the  interests  of  a  mass  missionary  meeting. 
"  After  dedicating  the  churches  at  Long  Ridge  on  Wednesday 
and  the  one  at  Ridgefield  on  Thursday,  we  remained,"  says 
Dr.  Pitman,  "  with  Brother  Gilbert,  who  on  Saturday  morning 
took  us  in  his  own  carriage  over  to  Brother  J.  R.  Hill's,  who 
resides  about  two  miles  distant  from  the  Reading  Church. 
With  this  kind  and  excellent  brother  we  dined  and  spent  a  few 
hours  most  agreeably  and  profitably.  Here  Brother  Smith,  the 
preacher  in  charge  of  Reading  Circuit,  met  us,  and  conveyed  us 
to  his  own  house,  where  we  again  found  ourselves  comfortably 
situated  and  perfectly  at  home.  I  preached  in  the  morning, 
and  at  the  close  of  the  sermon  urged  upon  the  congregation  the 
claims  of  the  missionary  cause.  Many  people  were  deeply  af- 
fected, and  evidently  felt  that  they  were  debtors  to  the  perish- 
ing heathen.  The  following  persons  were  constituted  life- 
members  of  the  parent  society  at  New  York:  Rhoda  Ann 
Hill,  W.  T.  Hill,  Harriet  N.  Hill,  Lydia  Sandford  and  Sarah 
P.  Sanford.  Twenty  dollars  were  contributed  to  redeem  a 
pledge  given  at  an  anniversary  of  the  Missionary  Society  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  by  Rev.  D.  Smith,  to  consti- 
tute Tellstrom,  the  first  Swedish  missionary,  a  life-member  of 
the  Missionary  Society  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 
Brothers  Hawley  Sandford,  Walter  Sandford  and  Morris  Hill 
all  responded  to  the  '  local  preachers'  proposition '  by  a  contrib- 
ution 'of  $10  each.  The  whole  amount  of  the  collection  was 


136  LIFE   OF   REV.    CHARLES   PITMAN,   D.D. 

$223.16.  In  the  afternoon  we  rode  to  Danbury,  a  distance  of 
about  eight  miles,  to  attend  a  missionary  meeting  in  the  even- 
ing. Here  Dr.  Peck  preached  a  most  appropriate  sermon,  and 
though  the  congregation  is  principally  made  up  of  young  peo- 
ple and  far  less  wealthy  than  that  of  Reading,  and  besides 
their  having  just  raised  about  $50  for  the  missionary  cause 
through  the  agency  of  Mrs.  Wilkins,  on  a  recent  visit  among 
them,  the  collection  and  pledges  amounted  to  $113,  which, 
added  to  the  sum  previously  collected,  would  make  the  aggre- 
gate of  $163.  Among  several  others,  Dr.  Peck  and  myself 
had  the  honor  of  being  made  life-members  of  the  Female  Mis- 
sionary Society  of  this  church. 

"On  Monday  morning  we  rose  at  four  o'clock,  and  started 
for  New  York  at  five,  reaching  the  Housatonic  Railroad  after 
a  ride  of  seven  miles  through  the  cold  and  over  a  rough  road. 
We  took  the  cars  for  Bridgeport,  where  we  arrived  at  eight 
o'clock,  and  immediately  left  on  the  steamer  '  Croton '  for  New 
York,  where  we  arrived  about  four  P.M.,  much  pleased  with 
our  trip  to  Connecticut,  and  not  less  so  on  finding  ourselves 
again  in  the  bosom  of  our  beloved  families." 

In  the  summer  of  1842  the  corresponding  secretary,  Dr.  Pit- 
man, and  G.  Lane,  treasurer  of  the  Missionary  Society  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  were  appointed  a  committee  to 
formulate  an  appeal  to  the  churches  in  behalf  of  the  missionary 
treasury.  It  was  drawn  by  the  masterly  pen  of  Dr.  Pitman, 
and  as  it  contains  a  statement  of  the  condition  of  the  Mission- 
ary Society  at  that  time,  it  may  not  be  uninteresting  to  our 
readers,  and  we  insert  a  part  of  it : 

"  To  THE  PREACHERS  AND  MEMBERS  OF  THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL 

CHURCH  : 

"Dearly  Beloved:  The  following  preamble  and  resolutions  were 
adopted  by  the  Board  of  Managers  of  the  Missionary  Society  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  on  July  20th,  1842 : 

"WHEREAS,  for  the  purpose  of  extinguishing  the  debt  against  the 


PLAN   TO   BELIEVE   THE   EMBARRASSED   TREASURY.     137 

treasury  of  the  Missionary  Society,  several  Annual  Conferences  have 
almost  unanimously  recommended  the  Board  of  Managers  to  apportion 
the  amount  of  said  debt  among  all  the  Conferences  according  to  their 
respective  numbers,  leaving  each  Conference  to  pursue  its  own  method 
in  raising  this  apportionment,  so  as  not  to  interfere  with  the  usual  mis- 
sionary collection,  therefore, — 

"  Resolved,  That  such  apportionment  be  made  forthwith. 

"Resolved,  That  the  corresponding  secretary  and  treasurer  be  in- 
structed to  accompany  this  apportionment  with  an  address  to  our  peo- 
ple on  the  importance  of  cancelling  this  debt  immediately  and  the  ease 
with  which  it  may  be  adopted  by  adopting  the  course  here  recom- 
mended. 

"  Resolved.  That  the  editors  of  all  the  papers,  belonging  to  the  M.  E. 
Church,  or  patronized  by  our  people,  be  respectfully  requested  to  give 
these  resolutions  and  accompanying  address  a  place  in  their  columns  for 
several  weeks  successively. 

"  In  strict  accordance  with  the  preamble  and  first  of  the  above  resolu- 
tions, the  following  annex  is  the  apportionment  of  the  existing  debt 
among  the  several  Annual  Conferences,  viz. : 

"New  York,  $2153;  Troy,  $1389;  Providence,  $584;  New  Hampshire, 
$1028;  New  England,  $661;  Pittsburgh,  $2055;  Maine,  $1236;  Black 
Eiver,  $918;  Erie,  $1055  ;  Oneida,  $1271 ;  Michigan,  $659;  Eock  River, 
$522;  Genesee,  $1550;  North  Ohio,  $1431;  Illinois,  $1544;  Ohio, 
$3132;  Missouri,  $913 ;  Tennessee,  $1609;  Kentucky,  $2148;  Indiana, 
$2926  ;  Memphis,  $984 ;  Arkansas,  $422 ;  Holston,  $1692 ;  Mississippi, 
$771;  North  Carolina,  $1161;  Texas,  $152;  Alabama,  $1610 ;  Virginia, 
$1411 ;  Georgia,  $2423 ;  Baltimore,  $3312 ;  South  Carolina,  $3214 ;  Phila- 
delphia, $2639 ;  New  Jersey,  $1425. 

"  The  above  proportionment  is  based  upon  the  assumption  that  the 
whole  debt  is  $50,000,  and  which  is  believed  to  be  the  real  debt  of  the 
Society.  During  several  months  past  this  debt,  with  some  little  varia- 
tion, has  rested  as  an  incubus  upon  the  Society,  and  we  beg  leave  to 
assure  the  members  of  our  Zion  that  it  still  sits  heavily  upon  us,  and 
cannot  fail,  if  permitted  to  exist,  greatly  to  retard  our  missionary  opera- 
tions. It  is  this  debt,  viewed  in  connection  with  the  scarcity  of  money 
and  the  fluctuating  state  of  the  currency,  which  has  led  the  Board  to 
commence  a  course  of  retrenchment  by  recommending  the  recall  of 
some  of  our  missionaries.  If  in  doing  this  we  have  made  retrograde 
movement,  and  in  the  adoption  of  this  restrictive  policy  there  is  sin, 
that  sin  cannot  lie  at  the  door  of  the  Board.  Painful  as  it  was,  they 
felt  themselves  obliged,  in  moral  honesty,  to  limit  their  appropriations 


138  LIFE   OF   REV.   CHARLES   PITMAN,   D.D. 

to  the  probable  amount  of  their  available  means.  They  still  hope, 
however,  that  Providence  will  yet  open  the  way  for  the  re-occupancy  of, 
at  least,  one  of  our  missionary  posts  in  poor,  deserted  South  America. 

"  The  importance  of  the  immediate  extinguishment  of  this  debt  may 
be  more  fully  seen  in  the  fact  that  the  interest  we  are  paying  on  it 
would  of  itself  support  five  additional  ministers  in  Africa.  And  when 
it  is  considered  that  this  is  perhaps  the  most  promising  field  embraced 
in  our  foreign  missions,  and  that  scarcely  a  vessel  visits  our  shores  from 
that  country  which  does  not  convey  to  us  the  most  melting  appeals  for 
additional  help,  and  this  not  only  from  the  missionaries  themselves, 
but  also  from  the  converted  and  half-awakened  natives  in  the  interior, 
who  does  not  realize  in  all  this  an  overwhelming  motive  to  immediate 
action  on  this  subject?  Let  this  debt  be  swept  off,  by  an  extra  effort, 
and,  without  any  increase  of  its  annual  expenditures,  the  Board  will  be 
able  at  once  to  provide  for  an  additional  supply  of  laborers  in  the  mis- 
sionary field.  Then  shall  the  motto  of  missionary  Methodism  be  what 
it  ought  to  be,  '  Extension  without  restriction.' 

"  And  surely  it  will  not  be  pleaded  that  the  project  of  removing  this 
debt  is  impracticable.  Let  there  be  only  a  united  and  simultaneous 
movement  throughout  our  widely-extended  Zion,  and  it  is  perfectly  easy 
of  accomplishment;  a  little  less  than  six  cents  from  each  one  of  our 
90,000  members  and  the  work  is  done.  And  who  that  is  worthy  to  bear 
the  name  of  Wesleyan  Methodist,  and  in  whose  heart  glows  a  spark  of 
the  fire  of  primitive  Christianity,  would  refuse  to  contribute  this  small 
amount  to  relieve  the  Missionary  Society  from  its  present  embarrass- 
ments? And  who  that  cares  for  the  souls  of  the  perishing  heathen 
and  the  general  interests  of  the  missionary  cause  will  hesitate  to  come 
forward  in  this  emergency  to  our  help  ?  We  verily  believe  that  it  is 
unsafe,  in  the  present  state  of  affairs,  to  allow  the  burden  of  so  heavy  a 
responsibility  to  rest  upon  the  society.  The  general  gloom  which  has 
settled  upon  the  business  prospects  of  the  country,  and  the  extreme 
scarcity  of  money,  warn  us  to  relieve  ourselves  of  this  incumbrance  as 
speedily  as  possible.  And  although,  for  want  of  time,  it  has  been  found 
impracticable  to  bring  this  subject  formally  before  all  the  annual  con- 
ferences, yet  we  sincerely  hope  that,  in  view  of  the  manifest  importance 
and  practicability  of  the  measure,  it  will  meet  with  a  hearty  and  uni- 
versal co-operation. 

"  We  would  respectfully  suggest  that  in  carrying  out  this  object  no 
time  should  be  lost ;  the  project  is  feasible,  the  sooner  it  is  done  the 
better.  It  can  be  done ;  it  ought  to  be  done.  Let  the  whole  Church 
say  it  must,  and  very  soon  it  will  be  done.  Ministers  of  Jesus  help ! 


MISSIONARY    LABOR.  139 

Upon  your  individual  agency  greatly  depends  the  success  of  this  effort. 
Bring  it  before  your  people ;  urge  it  upon  their  sympathies  and  con- 
sciences, and  be  assured  they  will  give  you  a  most  cheering  response. 
Disciples  of  Jesus  and  lovers  of  Methodism,  help !  We  entreat  you,  as 
the  followers  of  Him  '  who  went  about  doing  good,'  come  to  our  help  in 
this  emergency.  By  your  high  and  holy  designation  as  the  salt  of  the 
earth  and  the  '  light  of  the  world ' ;  by  the  fact  that  '  God  has  made  of 
one  blood  all  the  nations  of  the  earth ; '  by  your  love  for  perishing 
souls ;  by  your  obligations  to  Heaven  for  personal  blessings ;  by  your 
earnest  desire  for  the  promotion  of  the  divine  glory;  by  all  that  is 
sacred  on  earth,  fearful  in  hell,  and  inviting  in  heaven,  we  call  upon 
you  to  '  come  to  the  help  of  the  Lord,  to  the  help  of  the  Lord  against 
the  mighty.' 

"  Most  earnestly  do  we  hope  that  before  the  next  anniversary  of  the 
Society  it  will  be  our  privilege  to  announce  the  joyful  intelligence  that 
our  missionary  debt  is  wiped  away,  and  that  the  supplies  for  carrying  on 
our  missionary  work  are  amply  sufficient. 

"New  York,  July  26th,  1842.  C.  PITMAN,  Cor.  Sec. 

G.  LANE,  Treasurer." 

Such  were  the  burning  words  and  eloquent  utterances  of  the 
men  who  bore  on  their  hearts  the  great  interests  of  the  mis- 
sionary cause,  nearly  fifty  years  ago.  They  were  earnest  men, 
they  were  tried  men,  they  were  true  men,  and  thus  they  toiled, 
and  thus  they  labored,  and  thus  they  prayed,  and  thus  God 
gave  them  success  ;  the  money  came  in,  the  coffers  of  the  mis- 
sionary treasury  were  replenished,  the  debt  was  paid,  and  the 
society  has  more  than  doubled  the  number  of  her  missions,  and 
where  there  was  one  missionary  then  preaching  Christ  to  the 
heathen,  there  are  now  five  others  in  the  same  field,  assisted  by 
scores  of  teachers  and  native  helpers  in  the  good  work  of  evan- 
gelizing the  heathen  world. 

Following  in  the  good  work,  we  have  another  account  of 
Dr.  Pitman.  At  the  request  of  Rev.  J.  M.  Pease  and  Rev. 
William  F.  Collins,  he  visited  Peekskill  and  Shruboaks  Sta- 
tion, New  York  Conference,  for  the  purpose  of  assisting  them  in 
their  missionary  meetings,  of  which  he  says  :  "  In  the  morning 


140  LIFE   OF   REV.   CHARLES   PITMAN,   D.D. 

(Sabbath)  I  preached  at  Shruboaks  to  a  very  respectable,  at- 
tentive and  solemn  audience,  who  appeared  to  receive  the  truth 
in  the  love  of  it.  The  collection  and  pledges  taken  at  the  close 
of  the  sermon  amounted  to  one  hundred  and  fifteen  dollars. 
Just  after  the  pledges  were  called  for,  brother  Collins,  the 
preacher  in  charge,  whose  beloved  wife  had  been  lingering  for 
several  months  on  the  borders  of  the  grave,  rose  and  with  strong 
emotion  remarked : 


"  When  I  left  home  this  morning,  I  mentioned  to  Mrs.  Collins  that  I 
was  going  to  the  missionary  meeting,  and  asked  her  if  she  had  anything 
she  wished  me  to  communicate  to  the  meeting.  She  replied  with  deep 
interest  that  she  desired  me  to  give  five  dollars  in  her  name  for  the 
promotion  of  that  blessed  cause  and  to  say  to  the  secretary  and  the 
congregation  that  this  was  her  dying  donation.  'And  now,'  said 
Brother  Collins,  as  he  held  up  the  five-dollar  bill,  'shall  I  let  this 
last  donation  of  my  dying  companion  go  into  the  missionary  treasury 
alone?  I  cannot  consent  to  this;  I  must  beg  the  privilege  of  placing 
another  by  its  side,  that  I  may  share,  for  the  last  time,  with  her  who  is 
dearer  to  me  than  all  earthly  objects  beside,  the  luxury  of  doing  good.' 
This  incident  produced  a  most  powerful  sensation  throughout  the  whole 
assembly,  and  I  doubt  not  contributed  much  towards  the  noble  result. 

"Brother  Stainsbury,  whose  home  had  been  to  me  a  most  comfortable 
place  during  my  stay  in  the  neighborhood  took  me  to  Peekskill  in  the 
afternoon,  where  I  preached  to  a  fine  congregation,  in  the  evening. 
Here,  where  I  had  some  good  reason  to  expect  one  hundred  dollars  for 
the  missionary  cause,  our  collection  and  pledges,  all  told,  amounted  to 
about  thirty  dollars,  and  ten  of  these  were  pledged  by  Brother  Pease 
himself.  I  could  but  pity  myself,  the  congregation  and  the  missionary 
cause;  but,  most  of  all,  I  pitied  Brother  Pease,  who  was  evidently  much 
disappointed  and  greatly  mortified  with  the  result.*  The  preachers  in 
both  of  these  charges  are  noble-souled  men  and  deeply  imbued  with 
the  missionary  spirit.  Heaven  bless  them !" 

"  On  the  31st  of  December,  1843,  Dr.  Pitman  visited  Camden,  N.  J., 
and  preached  to  an  excessively  crowded  congregation  of  attentive 

*  Peekskill  has  long  since  redeemed  herself  from  this  lapse  in  missionary 
contributions,  and,  for  a  number  of  years,  has  been  in  the  front  in  her  mission* 
ary  collections. — THE  AUTHOR. 


MISSIONARY   LABOR.  141 

hearers.  The  sermon  throughout  had  a  bearing  on  the  missionary 
enterprise,  and  especially  on  the  obligations  of  the  Church  to  send  the 
gospel  to  the  perishing  heathen.  At  the  close  of  the  sermon  the  usual 
methods  were  adopted  to  raise  funds  for  missionary  purposes.  .  Brother 
Isaac  Winner,  the  preacher  in  charge,  entered  deeply  into  the  spirit  of 
the  meeting,  and  to  his  hearty  co-operation  is  doubtless  to  be  attributed, 
in  a  good  degree,  the  noble  and  satisfactory  result.  The  collection  and 
pledges  on  the  occasion  amounted  to  $164.  Our  Camden  friends,  I 
believe,  are  always  ready  for  a  missionary  meeting.  I  came  upon  them 
entirely  unexpected;  yet  when  I  proposed  an  effort  for  the  cause  of 
missions,  all  hands  were  up  for  it.  They  have  had  a  number  of  similar 
meetings,  but  never  a  failure  (glorious  record! — Biographer).  The  last 
was,  like  its  predecessors,  full  of  interest  and  greatly  successful.  I  am 
happy  to  have  it  in  my  power  to  state  that  the  '  cent-a-week '  system 
finds  considerable  favor  in  this  charge.  Something  more  will  be  forth- 
coming from  this  source. 

"  Most  devoutly  and  fervently  do  I  pray  that  this  interesting  people 
may  share  largely  in  the  reflex  benefits  of  Christian  benevolence.  And 
if  any  argument  is  to  be  drawn  from  personal  experience  and  general 
observation,  I  cannot  doubt  that  a  rich  and  copious  shower  of  divine 
mercy  awaits  them." 

On  the  evening  of  January  1st,  1844,  Dr.  Pitman  attended 
the  anniversary  of  the  Juvenile  Missionary  Society  of  St.  Paul's 
Church  in  Philadelphia,  and  says:  "This  is  the  third  year  in 
succession  that  I  have  been  permitted  to  share  with  this  society 
in  the  holy  festivities  of  their  anniversary  occasion.  And  I 
cannot  but  express  the  high  gratification  with  which  I  have 
witnessed  year  after  year  the  zeal  and  perseverance  of  this  so- 
ciety in  the  blessed  cause  of  missions.  And  I,  most  confidently 
hope  that  the  good  Spirit,  which  has  hitherto  animated  them, 
may  not  be  allowed  to  wane,  but  that  they  may  still  go  on  in 
this  good  '  work  of  faith  and  labor  of  love/  growing  stronger 
and  stronger  as  the  years  roll  onward. 

"  According  to  previous  arrangement,  I  preached  on  the  oc- 
casion, and  endeavored  to  present  the  claims  of  the  perishing 
heathen  upon  the  Church  and  the  obligations  imposed  upon  her, 
by  her  redeeming  Lord.  A  deep  solemnity  pervaded  the  con- 


142  LIFE  OF   REV.   CHARLES   PITMAN,   D.D. 

gregation,  and  in  many  instances,  a  deeply  felt  and  cherished 
sympathy  for  the  millions  of  our  benighted  race  was  indicated 
by  sighs  and  tears.  Brother  Onins,  the  preacher  in  charge, 
took  a  deep  interest  in  the  missionary  enterprise,  and  very  effi- 
ciently seconded  all  my  efforts  on  this  occasion.  The  aggregate 
amount  of  the  collection,  pledges  and  'tis-but  boxes'  was 
$106.  Four  life-members  of  the  parent  society  were  made  at 
this  meeting.  Another  missionary  society  connected  with  this 
church  was  to  hold  their  anniversary,  and  report  their  proceed- 
ings soon,  which  will  increase  this  amount  to  about  as  much 
more.  May  many  choice  blessings  rest  upon  this  efficient, 
juvenile  association." 

"In  the  closing  part  of  the  year  1847,  after  an  extended  and 
protracted  tour  westward,  accompanied  by  Mrs.  Pitman  and 
Bishop  "Waugh,  Dr.  Pitman,  in  the  most  fraternal  spirit,  ad- 
dressed a  missionary  letter  to  the  ministers  of  the  Liberia 
Annual  Conference,  which  was  so  highly  esteemed  by  that 
body  that  by  resolution  copies  were  ordered  published  at  their 
missionary  printing  office  for  the  use  of  the  members  and  other 
friends."  *  We  subjoin  the  first  and  the  closing  paragraph  : 

"DEAR  BRETHREN:  For  some  time  past  I  have  felt  a  strong  and 
increasing  desire  to  address  you  on  the  subject  of  the  great  work  in 
which  you  are  engaged,  and,  if  possible,  to  encourage  your  hearts  and 
strengthen  your  hands  for  the  more  successful  prosecution  of  the  duties 
which  devolve  upon  you  as  missionaries  of  the  cross.  But  as  yet 
neither  time  nor  circumstances  have  allowed  me  an  opportunity  of 
gratifying  this  desire.  Nor  am  I  now  able  to  communicate  with  you 
individually.  I  have  therefore  determined  to  address  you  collectively 
and  in  your  conference  capacity." 

The  address  contemplates  and  sets  forth  the  magnitude  and 
importance  of  the  work,  the  qualifications  with  which  a  mis- 
sionary should  be  endowed,  the  difficulties  and  dangers  con- 

*  New  Jersey  Conference  Memorial  Volume. 


MISSIONARY   LABOR.  143 

nected  with  missionary  enterprise,  and  closes  in  the  following 
words : 

"  In  conclusion  permit  me  to  remark  that  although  the  magnitude  of 
your  work,  the  difficulties  and  dangers  which  surround  you  in  connec- 
tion with  the  weakness  and  infirmities  which  attach  to  human  nature 
in  its  best  state,  are  sufficient  to  cause  the  stoutest  hearts  to  quail,  yet 
the  prospect  before  you  is  not  without  its  encouragements.  The  cause 
itself  is  the  Lord's.  You  are  but  agents  employed  in  this  great  work ; 
yet  we  trust  you  are  agents  selected  by  God  Himself.  And  who  can 
tell  wiiat  He  will  accomplish  by  instruments  of  His  own  choosing? 
Your  hopes  of  success  are  based  upon  the  word  of  everlasting  truth. 
Prophecy  and  promise  unite  to  sustain  the  long-cherished  hopes  of  the 
Church  in  regard  to  the  salvation  of  the  heathen.  '  Ask  of  me,'  says 
God,  'and  I  will  give  thee  the  heathen  for  thine  inheritance,  and  the 
uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  for  thy  possession.'  For  these  the  Re- 
deemer suffered  and  died ;  and  '  He  shall  see  the  travail  of  his  soul  and 
be  satisfied.'  Individually  you  may,  indeed,  be  nothing;  but  you  are 
connected  with  an  agency  which  is  Divine,  and  which  cannot  fail  to 
give  efficiency  to  your  efforts.  What  is  the  pebble  in  the  brook,  or  the 
sling,  or  what  the  slender  arm  of  the  youthful  shepherd?  Yet  that 
pebble  in  the  sling,  and  that  sling  in  the  hand  of  David,  and  his  arm 
connected  with  the  name  of  the  God  of  the  armies  of  Israel,  and  the 
vaunting  Goliath  lies  prostrate  at  his  feet. 

"  How  simple  and  even  foolish  in  the  ear  of  worldly  wisdom  is  the 
story  of  the  Cross !  How  feeble  and  inefficient  the  instrumentality  of 
man  I  And  yet  this  simple  weapon,  drawn  from  the  brook  of  truth, 
though  directed  by  the  most  insignificant  instrument,  becomes  mighty 
through  God,  and  by  it  the  giant  forms  of  pagan  idolatry  and  supersti- 
tion which  for  centuries  have  reared  their  brazen  fronts  and  proudly 
defied  the  God  of  heaven,  shall,  in  the  midst  of  their  vauntings,  be 
tumbled  into  ruins. 

"With  these  animating  prospects  before  you,  dear  brethren,  let 
nothing  deter  you  from  the  faithful  prosecution  of  your  holy  work. 
Ever  remember  that  you  are  not  at  liberty  to  entangle  yourselves  with 
secular  concerns,  and  that  you  are  expected  to  consecrate  yourselves 
and  your  families  entirely  to  the  missionary  work,  though  it  may  be  at 
the  sacrifice  of  care,  of  the  refinements  and  socialities  of  polished  so- 
ciety, of  health,  and  even  of  life  itself.  Go  forward,  then,  in  the  name 
of  the  Lord,  and  push  the  conquests  of  Messiah's  kingdom  farther  and 


144  LIFE   OF   REV.   CHARLES   PITMAN,   D.D. 

still  farther,  until  the  vast  interior  of  Africa  shall  become  vocal  with' 
the  songs  of  Christian  triumph.  And  remember  for  your  consolation 
that  the  church  under  whose  direction  and  patronage  you  labor  is  iden- 
tified with  you  in  all  that  legitimately  belongs  to  your  mission.  She 
will  hold  herself  responsible  for  your  necessary  supplies.  She  will 
sympathize  with  you  in  all  your  trials ;  she  will  weep  with  you  in  all 
your  sorrows,  and  she  will  rejoice  with  you  in  all  your  successes.  And 
should  any  of  you,  in  the  providence  of  God,  be  destined  to  find  a  pre- 
mature grave  in  the  land  of  your  voluntary  exile,  she  will  most  devoutly 
pray  that,  like  others  of  your  noble  predecessors  and  coadjutors,  you 
may  fall  at  your  post,  sword  in  hand,  with  your  clustering  honors  thick 
upon  you,  and  that,  with  Cox,  and  Wright,  and  Benton,  and  Stocker, 
and  Williams,  and  others  who  have  been  associated  with  you  in  this 
interesting  field,  you  may  wear  a  faithful  missionary's  crown  and  '  shine 
as  stars  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven  forever  and  ever.'  'And  now,  dearly 
beloved,  I  commend  you  to  God  and  to  the  word  of  His  grace,  which  is 
able  to  build  you  up  and  to  give  you  an  inheritance  among  all  of  them 
which  are  sanctified.' 

"  Yours  in  missionary  bonds,  C.  PITMAN." 

These  are  but  few  of  the  selections,  from  the  many  which  we 
might  make  as  being  expressive  of  the  interest  and  untiring 
energy  which  Dr.  Pitman  put  forth  for  the  benefit  and  ag- 
gressive movements  of  our  missionary  work,  during  the  pe- 
riod of  his  secretaryship.  Ever  ready  to  answer  all  the  calls 
made  upon  him,  we  find  him  at  one  time  in  Rahway,  New  Jer- 
sey; at  another,  journeying  by  stage-coach  and  private  convey- 
ance over  the  hills  of  Connecticut,  and  at  another  touching  the 
localities  along  the  Hudson  with  his  magic  power;  then,  as 
with  a  bound,  down  in  the  extremities  of  lower  New  Jersey, 
lifting  up  his  voice  to  a  people  that  he  declared  "  were  always 
ready  for  a  missionary  meeting;"  then  crossing  the  Delaware 
over  into  Philadelphia,  and  visiting  his  old  charges  and  friends, 
and  celebrating  his  advent  by  a  rousing  missionary  meeting  on 
a  New  Year's  night.  Returning  to  New  York,  we  find  him 
there  planning  a  great  undertaking  for  extinguishing  the  im- 
mense debt  upon  the  missionary  treasury  at  that  time,  and 


MISSIONARY   LABOR.  145 

then,  in  turn,  visiting  the  Conferences  all  over  the  Union,  and 
making  an  appeal  that  is  endued  with  a  pathos,  which  seems 
enough  to  move  the  heavens  to  pity,  and  the  earth  to  sympathy, 
and  the  church  to  tears,  and  then  executing  one  of  the  most 
extended  tours,  then  known  westward  with  a  Bishop,  and  with 
a  purpose  to  relieve  the  embarrassments  of  the  missionary  so- 
ciety, preaching  and  addressing  every  Annual  Conference,  and 
missionary  anniversary  within  the  line  of  his  travel,  day  after 
day,  evening  after  evening,  and  so  filled  with  zeal  and  burning 
with  the  flame  of  missionary  love  to  those  he  could  not  reach 
with  his  potent  and  eloquent  voice,  that  he  sits  down  and  writes 
a  fraternal  letter  to  the  Liberia  Annual  Conference,  which,  for 
beauty  of  diction,  for  certain  weighty  directness  in  character, 
and  for  soul-yearning  desire  for  the  spread  and  enlargement, 
and  continued  success  of  the  cause  of  Christ  in  heathen  lands, 
has  seldom  been  equalled,  and  never  surpassed.  "  Instant  in 
season  and  out  of  season,"  he  ceased  not  his  toil,  until  exhausted 
and  worn-out  nature,  under  the  pressure,  gave  way,  and  he  was 
compelled  to  resign  his  arduous  labors  and  office  to  men  of 
younger  hearts  and  stronger  hands,  if  not  of  more  vigorous 
purpose. 

What  would  Dr.  Bangs,  Dr.  Pitman,  Dr.  G.  Lane  or  Dr. 
Durbin  say,  if  they  could  be  on  earth  now  in  person  and  among 
the  churches,  and  behold  the  wide-sweeping  grasp  and  exten- 
sive executive  influence  and  power,  of  Dr.  J.  M.  Reed  at  the 
head  of  our  missionary  society,  assisted  by  the  genial,  far- 
seeing,  sagacious  and  earnest  Dr.  Fitzgerald,  and  hear  the 
sonorous  and  trumpet-tongued  voice  of  Chaplain  McCabe 
sounding  out,  from  the  St.  Lawrence  River  on  the  northeast  to 
the  peninsula  of  California  at  the  southwest,  from  the  sea- 
surged  board  of  the  Atlantic,  to  the  calm  and  peaceful  waters  of 
the  Pacific  main:  "A  million  for  missions!  a  million  for  mis- 
sions for  1887  by  collections  only!  Eighteen  hundred  and 
eighty-seven  must  roll  into  the  treasury  of  the  Missionary  So- 
10 


146  LIFE   OF   REV.    CHARLES   PITMAN,    D.D. 

ciety  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  "A  million  for 'mis- 
sions/'— a  million  of  dollars  to  promote  the  great  work  of 
salvation  to  earth's  remotest  bounds  ?  Would  it  not  thrill  Pit- 
man's heart  with  glad  hallelujahs,  and  light  up  his  solemn  face 
with  rays  of  jubilistic  glory?  Would  not  Durbin  open  his  large 
gray  eyes  a  little  wider,  and  lift  the  notes  of  his  stentorian  voice 
a  little  higher,  in  episodes  of  eloquent  thanksgivings  for  the 
Church's  triumphant  history,  and  bounding  with  gratitude  for 
this  rapid  stride  of  missionary  zeal  which  characterizes  the  pre- 
sent period,  would  not  both  unite  in  one  grand  shout  of  exul- 
tant victory,  to  the  onward  march  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ 
among  the  nations  of  the  earth,  and  the  ushering  in  of  this  lat- 
ter day  of  millennial  glory  ?  And  that  epoch  in  this  world's 
history  will  dawn  upon  us,  "  when  the  kingdoms  of  this  world 
become  the  kingdoms  of  our  God  and  His  Christ,  and  He  shall 
reign  forever  and  ever."  And  as  a  most  distinguished  divine 
has  said  :  "  The  true  millennial  glory  of  the  latter  day  shall  con- 
sist in  the  genial,  unrestricted  influence  of  the  gospel  upon  man, 
in  his  personal  history,  his  social  and  civic  relations." 

In  representing  in  this  resume  the  official  work  of  the  secre- 
tary, we  may  not  pass  the  attention  he  gave  to  the  missionary 
work  on  the  Pacific  coast,  then  in  its  incipiency.  This  move- 
ment arose  from  a  remarkable  call  of  a  delegation  of  the  Flat-  . 
head  Indians  and  the  response  made  thereto  by  our  missionary 
board  in  sending  forward  the  Rev.  Jason  Lee,  as  superintend- 
ent, supported  by  a  number  of  assistants,  and  with  needed  sup- 
plies for  establishing  a  mission  station  in  that  remote  and  very 
inaccessible  field. 

The  heroic  Lee  toiled  with  most  self-sacrificing  assiduity,  and 
as  will  be  seen  at  the  judgment  of  the  great  day,  with  consider- 
able success.  But  the  difficulties  were  great :  the  mission  had 
of  necessity  to  be  the  scheme  of  colonization,  employing  plows, 
mills,  farmers,  as  well  as  teachers  and  preachers;  the  base  of 
supplies  was  some  two  thousand  miles  away ;  practically  society 


MISSIONARY   LABOR.  147 

was  just  changing  from  aboriginal  Indians  to  white  settlers; 
immigration  was  just  now  pioneering  across  the  plains  of  the 
great  American  Desert,  so  called  ;  the  church  at  home  was  be- 
coming impatient  for  results;  great  expenses  had  been  involved, 
and  some  reports  unfriendly  to  the  administration  had  been 
sent  home,  and  created  some  misgivings  and  apprehensions.  It 
was  concluded  by  the  missionary  board  best  to  send  out  Rev. 
George  Gary,  a  man  of  large  experience,  to  adjust  the  business 
affairs  of  the  mission,  adapting  them  to  the  changed  conditions 
of  society.  This  work  had  been  wisely  done,  and  as  Mr.  Gary's 
advanced  age  did  not  allow  him  to  remain  and  cultivate  the 
field,  he  was  to  return,  and  some  younger  man,  well  known  to 
the  church  at  home,  of  sufficient  executive  ability  to  manage  all 
the  affairs  of  the  mission,  was  sought  for.  Thus  the  selection 
of  a  successor  for  the  new  and  important  field  devolved  upon 
Dr.  Pitman  as  secretary  of  the  parent  society. 

At  that  period  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  Oregon  were  but 
little  known  in  the  East,  and  California  had  excited  but  little, 
if  any  attention.  As  Dr.  Pitman  was  on  his  circuit  of  official 
visitation,  he  called  upon  the  Rev.  William  Roberts,  then  pastor 
of  Liberty  Street  Church  in  New  Brunswick,  N.  J. ;  as  Mr. 
Roberts  was  greatly  interested  in  the  missionary  enterprise 
of  the  church,  being  an  able  and  eloquent  advocate  in  its  fur- 
therance, both  in  the  pulpit  and  on  the  platform,  he  inquired  of 
the  secretary :  "  Who  is  to  be  the  superintendent  of  the  Oregon 
mission  ?"  the  impromptu  answer  of  Dr.  Pitman  was,  "  You !" 
and,  strange  as  it  may  seem,  it  so  transpired. 

It  possibly  was  a  forethought  of  Dr.  Pitman,  and  its  dis- 
closure was  then  and  there  invoked  by  the  artless,  yet  interested 
question  asked  of  him.  How  like  a  concurrent  inspiration  was 
this,  in  the  providential  support  and  furtherance  of  the  great 
missionary  work  to  be  conducted  on  the  Western  Slope  of  our 
great  continent.  The  results  of  this  work  begun  under  the 
self-sacrificing  Lee  and  Gary,  and  afterwards  developed  and 


148  LIFE   OF   REV.    CHARLES   PITMAN,    D.D. 

widely  forwarded  by  the  heroic  .Roberts,  shows  the  providence 
of  its  opening,  the  wisdom  of  its  deviser,  and  eminent  devotion 
of  its  superintendents  and  their  laborious  aids. 

When  Mr.  Roberts  was  appointed  to  this  missionary  work  in 
Oregon,  he  was  in  the  zenith  of  his  popularity  both  in  Confer- 
ence, and  in  the  vicinities  of  Philadelphia  and  New  York,  with 
a  wife  of  refined  and  popular  bearing,  held  in  affectionate  re- 
gard by  many  circles  of  friends,  and  two  bright  little  boys, 
whose  life's  direction  was  to  be  changed.  The  passage  to  their 
new  and  distant  field  involved  a  voyage  of  some  seven  months 
in  a  sailing  vessel,  with  its  confinement  and  exposure  around 
Cape  Horn  to  the  Columbia  River.  As  his  voluntary  exile  shows 
an  exalted  self-abnegation  and  Christian  heroism  and  devotion,  so 
also  his  selection  by  the  Secretary  expresses  a  providential  lead- 
ing and  apostolic  direction,  in  his  subsequent  appointment  to  the 
high  and  responsible  position  as  a  representative,  in  all  respects 
equal  to  its  demands.  This,  his  wise  and  successful  oversight 
fully  confirms,  both  as  to  the  establishment  of  our  Missionary, 
and  since  of  our  Conference  work  in  Oregon  and  California. 

Simultaneously  with  the  institution  of  Conferences,  growing 
out  of  the  Missionary  work,  the  superintendency  was  sus- 
pended, and  its  incumbent  took  a  deserved  place  in  the  new 
organization,  and  has  devoted  his  ability,  influence  and  experi- 
ence, to  the  present,  in  aiding  further  to  put  our  Methodism  in 
the  front  rank  of  Protestant  evangelism  in  the  vast,  growing 
and  important  population  of  the  Pacific  border.  Thus  Dr. 
Pitman  and  Dr.  Roberts  are  eminently  associated  in  one  of  the 
grandest  as  well  as  greatest  enterprises  of  evangelism  and  Chris- 
tian civilization  known  in  this  Western  hemisphere. 

It  is  fitting  that  we  close  this  interesting  chapter  on  missions 
during  the  time  of  his  secretaryship  of  the  Society  with  a  hymn 
composed  by  Dr.  Pitman,  as  it  partakes  of  true  missionary  zeal 
and  indicates  the  spirit  and  interest  he  felt  in  the  work,  and 
shows  that  in  the  midst  of  his  arduous  labors  as  missionary  sec- 


MISSIONARY  HYMN.  149 

retaiy,  he  did  not  neglect  to  employ  his  poetical  talent  on  sub- 
jects of  missionary  interest  and  missions,  and  liow  well  his 
marked  efficiency  enabled  him  to  accomplish  this  work  may  be 
judged  by  the  following  selection.  It  was  written  December 
19th,  1846,  and  was  co-incident  with  Dr.  Roberts'  appoint- 
ment : 

MISSIONARY  HYMN. 

"  Behold  them  on  the  trembling  bark, 

All  group'd  within  their  ocean  home, 
With  purpose  fix'd  their  course  they  mark, 
They  go  in  distant  lands  to  roam. 

"  They  go  commission'd  from  above, 
As  Christ's  ambassadors  they  go, 
To  publish  His  redeeming  love 
Where  all  is  wilderness  and  woe. 

"  They  go  for  Him  whose  love  proclaims 

An  amnesty  for  all  our  race, 
To  plant  along  Williamett's  plains 
The  seeds  of  truth  and  heavenly  grace. 

"  A  mourning  group  of  friends  are  there, 

They  cease  the  touching  scene  to  view, — 
To  breathe  for  them  the  ardent  prayer, 
Then  take  their  last  and  long  adieu. 

"  There,  too,  an  aged  father  stands, 

With  stifled  grief  and  lingering  gaze. 
'  I  yield,'  he  cries,  '  'Tis  God  commands,' 
And  thus  he  most  devoutly  prays : 

"  '  My  son !  my  son  1  my  only  son ! 

O  God  to  Thee  I  consecrate ; 
Sustain  him  till  his  work  is  done, 
Then  crown  him  in  his  blissful  state.' 

"  Unmoved,  the  vessel  onward  glides, 

Borne  forward  by  the  fav'ring  breeze, 
For  months  to  stem  old  ocean's  tides, 
And  dash  amid  tempestuous  seas. 


150  LIFE  OF  REV.   CHARLES  PITMAN,   D.D. 

"  Farewell,  ye  heralds  of  the  cross  I 
You  go  for  us  and  in  our  name  ; 
You've  counted  all  things  here  but  loss, 
That  you  may  Jesus'  love  proclaim. 

"  In  heathen  lands,  where  darkness  reigns, 
And  souls,  for  lack  of  knowledge,  die  ; 
Where  Satan's  captives,  held  in  chains, 
Despairingly  for  freedom  cry. 

"  Where  wasting  tribes  of  red  men  wail, 

Unwept,  unpitied  and  unsought, 
Who  yet  no  sound  of  mercy  hail, 
Although  by  blood  divinely  bought. 

"  Where  mountain  trappers,  fierce  and  wild, 

And  crowds  of  Western  pioneers, 

With  hands  and  hearts  by  sin  defil'd, 

Accumulate  their  guilt  of  years. 

"  Go  forth  to  these,  ye  sons  of  light, 
Salute  their  ears  with  mercy  free, 
Go  dissipate  their  moral  night, 
And  bid  them  to  their  Saviour  flee. 

"  Soon  shall  '  the  wilderness  rejoice, 

The  solitary  place  be  glad  ;' 
For  those  who  hear  the  Saviour's  voice, 
And  in  His  righteousness  are  clad. 

"  Pacific  shores,  Columbia's  dales, 

Shall  blend  in  one  their  anthem  song, 
The  mountain  cliffs  and  fertile  vales 
In  echoes  sweet  their  strains  prolong. 

"  The  winds  shall  bear  the  joyful  lays 

In  raptur'd  peals  the  earth  around,  n 
And  millions  the  sweet  chorus  raise, — 
'  The  dead's  alive,  the  lost  is  found.'  " 

— C.  PITMAN. 


CHAPTER   XI. 

DR.    PITMAN   AS   A    CHURCH    DEDICATOR.      SOME    ACCOUNT   OP 
THESE    DEDICATIONS. 

WHILE  acting  as  Corresponding  Secretary  of  the  Missionary 
Society  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  Dr.  Pitman  did  not  relin- 
quish his  interest  in  our  home  work.  The  building  of  new 
churches,  their  dedication  to  the  worship  of  Almighty  God,  and 
the  new  and  increasing  interest  that  attended  such  events,  and 
the  success  that  generally  followed,  were  always  matters  of 
great  moment  to  his  noble,  philanthropic  and  Christian  heart, 
and  in  such  services  he  engaged  with  great  delight. 

Nor  did  he  lose  his  love  for  camp-meetings,  when  immersed 
in  the  arduous  labors  and  duties  of  his  office.  Frequently 
would  he  leave  his  office  in  New  York,  and  make  a  sort  of  an 
official  tour  to  several  camp-meetings,  to  meet  with  the  preach- 
ers and  people  in  the  various  sections  of  our  Methodism,  and 
endeavor  to  infuse  spiritual  zeal  into  the  hearts  of  the  people 
who  were  called  together  at  these  great  annual  gatherings.  He 
delighted  to  attend  the  assembly  of  the  Lord's  saints  in  the 
grove,  and  it  seemed  to  be  a  pre-arranged  fact,  in  the  minds  of 
those  who  had  charge  of  camp-meetings,  if  not  definitely  put 
down  on  the  programme,  that  if  Dr.  Pitman  made  his  appear- 
ance on  the  camp-grounds,  during  the  encampment,  he  was 
soon  to  be  bulletined  for  an  appointment  to  preach. 

To  mention  all  the  church  dedications,  or  camp-meetings,  he 
officiated  at,  would  more  than  fill  a  volume.  We  can  only  men- 
tion a  few  as  being  indicative  of  the  multitudinous  class  and  in- 
terest of  others. 

151 


152  LIFE  OF   REV.   CHARLES   PITMAN,    D.D. 

The  Third  Street  M.  E.  Church,  of  Camden,  N.  J.,  which 
stood  on  Third  Street,  above  Bridge  Avenue,  was  dedicated  to 
the  worship  of  Almighty  God,  December  14,  1834.  Rev. 
Charles  Pitman  preached  the  dedicatory  sermon  from  Isa.  60th 
chapter,  latter  clause  of  the  7th  verse,  and  Rev.  Mr.  Granville 
performed  the  dedicatory  services.  The  church  is  spoken  of 
"  as  a  handsome  brick  edifice,  size,  52x72,  having  galleries  on 
three  sides,  two  aisles,  an  altar  and  pulpit  of  commodious  size. 
The  church  is  one  of  the  best,  if  not  the  best  within  the  bounds 
of  the  West  Jersey  District,  and  is  tastefully  finished,  orna- 
mented and  beautifully  painted  throughout,  and  indicates  the 
thrift  and  growth  of  Methodism  in  that  place.  The  dedication 
sermon  was  all  that  could  be  desired.  Brother  Pitman  was  in  his 
best  preaching  mood,  and  gave  us  a  grand  sermon,  which,  for 
unctious  power,  impressiveness  in  delivery,  and  overwhelming 
influence  for  good,  we  have  seldom  seen,  or  ever  before  heard. 
The  financial  effort  far  exceeded  the  expectation  of  the  official 
brethren,  and  the  day  was  one  long  to  be  remembered  as  a  high 
day  in  Zion,  by  the  members  of  our  church  and  the  citi- 
zens of  Camden,  for  liberality  in  giving,  and  the  spiritual  char- 
acter of  these  exercises." 

Rev.  Walters  Burrows,  of  West  Bloom  field,  N.  J.,  says  in 
the  Christian  Advocate  and  Journal,  November,  1837  : 

"  On  Thursday,  the  10th  inst.,  our  new  and  beautiful  house  of  worship 
in  this  village  was  dedicated  to  the  worship  of  the  Lord  our  God. 
Preaching  in  the  morning  by  brother  Pitman,  of  Philadelphia,  in  the 
afternoon  by  brother  Kennaday,  of  New -York,  and  in  the  evening  by 
Brother  Scott,  of  Newark.  The  word  of  God,  through  the  ministry  of 
these  brethren,  was  as  the  cooling  water-brook  to  the  thirsty  soul. 
While  the  crowded  audience  listened  with  the  deepest  interest,  and  gave 
evidence  of  their  satisfaction  by  contributions  and  pledges  to  the 
amount  of  $712.13,  and  there  had  been  previously  subscribed,  princi- 
pally by  the  same  individuals,  about  $2000.  To  God  be  all  the  praise. 

"  W.  BUKEOWS. 

"  West  Bloomfield,  N.  J.,  Nov.  12, 1837." 


CHUKCH  DEDICATIONS  153 

Dedication  at  Trenton,  N.  J.  Rev.  A.  Atwood  writes  in  the 
Christian  Advocate,  September,  1838  : 

"  The  building  recently  erected  in  Trenton,  N.  J.,  for  the  use  of  the 
M.  E.  Church,  was  dedicated  to  the  worship  of  Almighty  God,  on  Sab- 
bath, the  9th  inst.  The  morning  and  evening  services  were  conducted 
by  Rev.  Mr.  Holdich,  of  Middletown,  Conn.,  and  those  in  the  afternoon 
by  Rev.  Mr.  Pitman,  of  Philadelphia.  The  interest  was  well  kept  up 
throughout  the  day,  nor  will  the  whole  scene  soon  be  forgotten.  The 
congregations  were  very  large  and  attentive,  thus  evincing  the  deep  in- 
terest taken  in  our  enterprise.  The  building  is  seventy-two  feet  long  by 
fifty -two  feet  wide,  of  brick,  with  a  basement  under  the  whole,  and  all 
finished  in  a  neat  and  appropriate  style,  well  befitting  its  holy  purposes. 
The  collections  amounted  to  nearly  $1400.  In  behalf  of  a  grateful 
Society  I  return  most  hearty  gratitude  to  the  ministers,  and  all  others 
in  attendance  for  having  so  liberally  aided  in  defraying  the  heavy  ex- 
penses of  this  elegant  house  of  worship. 

"  A.  ATWOOD  Pastor. 

"  Trenton,  September  12,  1838." 

Dedication  at  Milford,  Del. 

"  The  new  M.  E.  Church  in  the  village  of  Milford,  Del.,  was  dedicated 
to  the  worship  of  Almighty  God  on  the  12th  ult.  The  services  were 
conducted  in  the  morning  and  afternoon  by  Rev.  brother  Pitman,  and 
in  the  evening  by  Rev.  M.  A.  Kurtz.  The  church  is  a  beautiful  brick 
building,  40x50  feet,  with  an  end  gallery.  It  has  a  fine  basement-story, 
divided  into  three  apartments,  namely,  a  Sabbath-school  room,  21x37 
feet ;  a  very  handsome  class-room,  16x24  feet,  and  a  committee  or  busi- 
ness-room, 13x16  feet.  The  whole  cost  of  the  house  is  about  $5000. 
The  debt  on  the  church  was  $800.  Of  this  sum  there  was  collected 
five  hundred  dollars,  and  the  balance  the  trustees  expected  to  realize  by 
the  disposal  of  their  lots  in  their  cemetery,  which  will  leave  them  with 
a  commodious  and  substantial  new  church,  free  of  debt.  Most  sincerely 
do  I  rejoice  in  the  zeal  and  perseverance  of  our  Milford  brethren,  and 
especially  in  the  success  which  has  crowned  their  efforts,  and  I  cannot 
but  hope  their  noble  example  will  be  followed  by  other  towns  and  vil- 
lages in  this  interesting  region  of  country.  Perhaps  a  more  friendly 
and  hospitable  people  are  not  to  be  found  than  dwell  on  this  peninsula. 
In  traveling  through  this  country  several  years  ago,  almost  the  only 
thing  I  was  disposed  to  complain  of  was  the  dilapidated  state  of  the 
churches.  It  gives  me  great  pleasure  to  learn  that  for  some  time  past 


154  LIFE   OP  REV.   CHARLES   PITMAN,   D.D. 

the  spirit  of  enterprise  in  this  respect  has  been  rising.  And  I  shall  be 
greatly  mistaken  if,  in  connection  with  this  spirit,  there  is  not  witnessed 
an  increased  and  increasing  state  of  spiritual  prosperity  in  the  church. 
The  occasion  of  the  dedication  of  the  new  church  at  Milford  was  a  sea- 
son which  our  friends  in  that  place  will  long  remember  with  pleasurable 
emotions.  Acknowledging  the  kindness  of  the  friends,  I  most  cordially 
unite  in  the  petition,  '  Save  now,  I  beseech  thee,  O  Lord ;  O  Lord,  I 
beseech  thee,  send  now  prosperity.' 

"  C.  PITMAN. 
"  New  York,  July  1,  1842." 

It  was  in  the  old  church  in  Milford,  Del.,  where  the  Phila- 
delphia Conference  was  held,  in  April,  1821,  that  Mr.  Pitman 
was  ordained  to  the  office  of  an  elder  in  the  M.  E.  Church,  by 
Bishop  George. 

Dedications  in  Connecticut : 

"  On  the  25th  ult.,"  says  Mr. Pitman,  "I  started  in  company  with  my 
esteemed  friend  and  brother,  Dr.  Peck,  on  a  little  excursion  to  Connec- 
ticut. We  had  been  invited  to  officiate  at  the  dedication  of  two  new 
churches,  the  one  at  Long  Ridge  and  the  other  at  Ridgefield,  and  both 
in  Fairfield  County.  We  left  New  York  in  the  Steamer  Croton,  at  7 
o'clock,  A.  M.,  and  arrived  at  Norwalk  a  little  before  eleven,  where  we 
found  a  private  carriage  in  waiting  for  us.  Our  place  of  entertainment 
had  been  assigned  with  brother  J.  M.  Gilbert,  in  whose  family  we  found 
a  most  comfortable  home.  On  Wednesday  morning  we  rode  over  to 
Long  Ridge,  a  distance  of  six  miles,  to  attend  the  dedication  of  the 
new  church  at  that  place.  Dr.  Peck  preached  in  the  morning,  and  I  in 
the  afternoon.  The  results  of  the  day  were  highly  gratifying  to  the  peo- 
ple, and  the  church  was  freed  from  debt.  On  Thursday  the  new  church 
at  Ridgefield  was  dedicated.  I  preached  in  the  morning  and  Dr.  Peck  in 
the  evening.  Of  these  interesting  occasions,  my  feelings  would  prompt 
me  to  say  much,  but  as  they  will  be  noticed  by  another,  I  pass  them 
over  with  the  single  remark,  that  both  of  these  churches  are  models  of 
neatness  and  plainness,  and  with  respect  to  size,  well  accommodated  to 
the  neighborhoods,  in  which  they  are  respectively  located.  The  collec- 
tions for  the  balance  of  indebtedness,  for  the  latter,  were  sufficient  to 

cancel  all  obligations  against  it. 

"  C.  PITMAN. 
"  New  York,  February  8, 1842." 


CHURCH  DEDICATIONS.  155 

Dedication  at  Cold  Spring,  L.  I. : 

"The  M.  E.  Church  at  Cold  Spring,  L.  L,  was  dedicated  to  the  service 
of  Almighty  God  on  the  23d  of  October  last.  The  services  were  per- 
formed by  the  Eev.  Charles  Pitman  and  Rev.  G.  Peck,  D.D.  Brother 
Pitman  preached  in  hia  usual  powerful  manner,  from  Col.  i.  28,  in  which 
he  gave  a  clear  and  full  delineation  of  the  nature  and  excellencies  of  the 
Redeemer  in  his  provision  of  mercy  to»man,  and  of  the  ultimate  design 
of  the  grace  of  God  to  save  the  human  soul.  Dr.  Peck  followed  in  the 
afternoon  with  a  very  able  sermon  from  Matt.  xvi.  18.  Something  over 
three  hundred  dollars  were  realized  in  the  collection  and  pledges, 
placing  us  beyond  serious  embarrassment.  Respectfully  Yours, 

"  ORLANDO  STAB. 

"Huntington,  L.  I.,  November  15, 1842." 

Dedication  at  Broadway,  Asbury  Circuit,  N.  J.  Conference : 

"  Our  new  church  at  Broadway,  Asbury  Circuit,  Warren  County,  New 
Jersey  Conference,  was  dedicated  to  the  worship  of  Almighty  God  on  the 
19th  inst.,  by  the  Rev.  Charles  Pitman,  Corresponding  Secretary  of  the 
Missionary  Society  of  the  M.  E.  Church. 

"  Our  beloved  brother  selected  for  his  text  Ps.  Ixxxvii.  6 ;  and  truly 
we  had  then  and  there  one  of  the  most  palpable  evidences  of  the  fulfil- 
ment of  the  promise,  'And  lo,  I  am  with  you  always.'  The  preacher 
received,  as  the  fittest  qualification  of  his  '  great  work,'  the  baptism  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  which  enabled  him  most  lucidly  to  explain  and  most 
forcibly  to  apply  the  whole  of  his  subject.  Never  more  sensibly  were  we 
impressed  with  the  truth,  '  Through  Christ  strengthening  me  I  can  do 
all  things.'  God  on  this  occasion  sanctioned  his  holy  worship  by  bless- 
ing the  preacher  and  making  him  a  blessing  to  the  people.  At  the  close 
of  the  sermon,  by  the  request  of  our  brother,  the  congregation  rose  and 
presented  to  the  Lord  our  new  temple,  and  while  they  and  we  were 
solemnly  engaged  in  this  service,  the  Almighty  Being  most  graciously 
and  mercifully  signified  to  our  waiting  and  anxious  hearts  that  he 
had  received  our  offering. 

"  In  the  evening  we  were  again  favored,  and  refreshed  with  another 
discourse  from  our  dear  brother,  selecting  for  his  second  text  Col.  i.  27- 
29.  The  labors  of  that  day  did  not  fall  as  water  on  the  ground,  but  as 
bread  upon  the  waters ;  and,  when  the  Lord  writeth  up  the  people,  we 
verily  believe  that  some  will  date  their  conviction  of  divine  truth  from 
the  19th  of  January,  1844,  at  Broadway  new  church.  Not  only  was  our 


156  LIFE   OF   REV.    CHARLES   PITMAN,   D.D. 

brother  most  happy  in  the  illustration  of  truth,  but  in  expanding  the 
benevolent  feelings  and  liberality  of  the  people.  Our  liabilities  on  the 
morning  of  the  19th  were  six  hundred  dollars.  Brother  Pitman  so  pre- 
vailed with  the  congregation  that,  when  we  left  the  church  in  the  even- 
ing, the  debt  was  less  than  three  hundred  dollars.  This  was  doing  very 
well  for  this  section  of  our  work.  On  the  morning  of  the  20th,  after 
our  dedication  service,  at  the  home  of  brother  Fritts,  we  all  knelt  before 
a  throne  of  grace,  and  brother*  Pitman  prayed.  The  heavens  were 
opened,  the  mercy-seat  was  accessible,  and  before  we  arose  we  felt  that 
we  were  wholly  the  Lord's.  "  A.  OWEN,  } 

"RICHARD  VANHORNE,  j 
"  Harmony,  N.  J.,  January  25,  1844." 

Dedication  at  Lawrenceville,  N.  J. : 

"MESSRS.  EDITORS:  Our  church  edifice,  which  was  erected  during 
the  last  summer  (33  by  43  feet),  at  an  expense  of  about  $1100,  was  ded- 
icated to  the  worship  of  Almighty  God  on  the  28th  of  December.  The 
dedicatory  services  were  ably  performed  by  Rev.  Charles  Pitman,  of 
New  York,  the  corresponding  secretary  of  the  Missionary  Society,  and 
the  Rev.  D.  P.  Kidder,  of  Trenton.  At  the  close  of  the  morning  ser- 
mon Brother  Pitman  called  upon  the  congregation  to  give  an  expression 
of  their  offering  by  rising,  which  was  done  with  a  unanimity  of  feeling 
and  interest  highly  worthy  of  the  occasion.  A  debt  of  nearly  $500  re- 
maining on  the  house  was  then  announced.  After  taking  a  very  liberal 
collection,  a  proposition  was  made  to  raise  the  first  hundred  by  five 
twenty-dollar  subscriptions,  which  was  promptly  met.  Although  the 
day  was  stormy  and  the  roads  bad,  we  raised  $350.  Much  praise  is  due 
our  neighboring  friends  for  their  very  liberal  contributions  on  the  occa- 
sion. "  J.  W.  PUTMAN,  Preacher  in  Charge. 

"Lawrenceville,  Feb.  6th,  1844." 

Dedication  at  Bordentown,  N.  J. : 

"The  new  and  beautiful  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  at  Bordentown, 
New  Jersey,  was  dedicated  to  the  worship  of  Almighty  God  by  Rev. 
Charles  Pitman,  D.D.,  of  New  York,  in  the  fall  of  1844.  Bishop  Janes 
preached  a  most  eloquent  and  stirring  sermon  in  the  morning,  which 
seemed  to  set  all  hearts  on  fire,  and  the  liberality  of  the  people  was 
commensurate  (as  it  always  is)  with  the  power  and  influence  of  the 
divine  Spirit  which  on  these  occasions  they  experienced  in  their  hearts. 


DEDICATION   AT   PORCHTOWN,   N.   J.  157 

The  time  for  the  afternoon  service  arrived,  and  the  church  was  crowded 
to  excess.    Rev.  Dr.  Pitman  had  arrived  from  New  York  a  little  after 
noon,  and  promptly  at  the  time  of  service  arose  in  the  pulpit  and  gave 
out  a  hymn,  and,   after  the  singing,  joined   in  a  fervent  prayer  to 
Almighty  God;  after  the  singing  of  the  second  hymn,  the  doctor  an- 
nounced and  preached  from  Psalm  xlviii.  12-14.    This  was  one  of  the 
doctor's  favorite  themes  for  dedicatory  services  of  new  churches  (an 
outline  of  which  is  appended  at  the  end  of  this  volume),  and  a  descrip- 
tion of  his  manner  in  preaching  on  these  occasions,  and  especially  from 
this  text,  will  be  mentioned  elsewhere  in  this  volume.     Said  one  who 
was  present  and  wrapt  in  amazement  at  the  utterances  of  the  speaker: 
'Here  truth  revealed  its  sceptre — truth  which  spoke  in  utterances  of 
matchless  interest  and  power — eloquence  which  animated  and  inspired 
all  hearts  with  holy  love  and  with  a  strong  and  devout  attachment  to 
our  holy  Zion.    My  attention  was  so  vivid  and  so  intense  that  from  the 
strength  of  admiration  I  thought  that  I  could  become  a  Pitman  too,  and 
be  filled  with  the  justness  of  his  images,  and  breathe  the  spirit  of  the 
great  model  and  prince  of  the  preachers  of  his  time;  but  when  I  entered 
into  myself,  alas!  I  felt  I  was  only  an  humble  instrument  to  preach 
Christ,  and  I  exclaimed:  Oh,  if  I  could  only  be  Pitman's  shadow,  I 
would  still  deserve  to  be  admired,  for  the  shadow  of  a  great  man  has 
some  reality.'    The  reason  for  building  a  new  church  at  this  time  was 
because  the  society  had  lost  their  old  church,  which  was  located  on 
Main  Street,  on  account  of  some  defect  in  the  title.    Dr.  Pitman  said, 
on  the  occasion  of  the  dedication,  he  was  glad  that  they  had  lost  the 
old  church,  for  now  they  had  a  new  one  much  more  commodious  and 
better  adapted  to  the  needs  of  the  society,  and  greatly  to  the  advantage 
of  Methodism,  and  the  accommodations  of  the  public  in  general.   The 
day  closed  up  with  good  and  highly  satisfactory  financial  results,  and 
all  felt  that  the  cause  of  Methodism  had  been  very  much  strengthened 
by  that  day's  effort." 

Dedication  at  Porchtown,  Gloucester  Circuit,  New  Jersey 
Conference:  The  church  at  Porchtown  was  dedicated  in  the 
fall  of  1848  by  Rev.  Charles  Pitman,  D.D.  The  occasion  was 
one  of  unusual  interest,  and  the  event  produced  a  lasting  im- 
pression upon  the  minds  of  all  present.  Mrs.  Bowers,  an  aged 
member  of  that  church  (still  living),  narrated  the  scenes  and 
the  great  interest  felt  at  the  time  of  the  building  of  their  new 


158  LIFE  OF  REV.   CHARLES  PITMAN,   D.D. 

church  and  its  dedication,  to  the  author  of  this  biography  in 
1878,  while  he  was  preacher  in  charge  of  that  circuit.  In  those 
times  it  was  considered  a  great  undertaking  to  build  a  church 
with  both  end  and  side  galleries, — in  fact,  with  any  gallery  at 
all.  People  who  had  been  accustomed  to  worshipping  in  pri- 
vate houses,  school-houses  and  what  was  termed  "  meeting- 
houses," which,  in  those  times,  generally  meant  a  building 
twenty  by  thirty  feet,  with  twelve  or  fourteen-foot  posts,  which 
indicated  the  distance  from  floor  to  ceiling,  roughly  plastered 
and  with  lime-washed  walls,  wooden  benches — some  with  backs 
and  some  without  back-rests — a  plain  board  pulpit,  perhaps 
painted,  with  a  chair  or  bench  within,  a  cheap  pine  stand  and 
two  wooden  chairs  for  the  inside  of  the  altar,  a  plain  rail  for  an 
altar,  a  ten-plate  wood  stove  in  the  centre  of  the  aisle,  and  one 
passage  way,  and  that  extending  from  the  door  to  the  pulpit, 
through  the  centre  part  of  the  house,  and  also  as  indicating  a 
dividing  line  in  the  congregation,  the  men  sitting  on  one  side 
(generally  the  right),  and  the  women  on  the  other  (the  left), 
and  a  preacher  in  the  pulpit  pouring  out  gospel  truth  like  a 
young  Niagara  would  pour  down  water — gives  the  reader  some- 
what of  an  idea  of  a  "country  meeting-house"  and  its  congre- 
gation engaged  in  worship.  Ziou  had  served  its  day  and 
generation  at  Porchtown,  and  the  Porches  and  Cranes  and 
other  noble  families  of  Methodism  resolved  to  build  a  church — 
a  church  with  galleries  in  it,  and  two  aisles  and  a  vestibule,  a 
solid  middle  block,  a  regular  platform  and  altar,  and  a  beauti- 
fully finished  pulpit,  that  was  to  have  a  recess  in  it,  with  steps 
of  access  from  each  side,  and  lighted  with  side  lamps  and  chan- 
delier, which  in  that  day  was  several  steps  in  advance  of  sur- 
rounding appointments.  This  church  was,  after  much  effort, 
finished,  and  Rev.  Charles  Pitman  was  to  preach  the  dedica- 
tory sermon.  The  day  was  unusually  fine,  and  great  crowds  of 
people  gathered  to  the  place.  Mr.  Pitman  arrived  the  day  be- 
fore, surveyed  the  situation  and  prepared  himself  for  the  work 


DEDICATION  AT   PORCHTOWN,   N.   J.  159 

of  the  morrow.  Hundreds,  if  not  thousands,  of  his  friends 
greeted  him,  and  they  well  knew  what  was  to  come  from  that 
man  of  God  that  day.  The  hour  of  service  arrived,  and  both 
the  preacher  and  people  were  in  their  places,  and  those  who 
could  not  get  into  the  church — for  it  could  not  accommodate 
the  mass  of  people — gathered  at  the  side  door,  the  windows  and 
around  the  church.  Appropriate  hymns  were  sung,  and  the 
introductory  prayer  was  offered,  and  soon  the  preacher  arose 
and  announced  as  his  text,  Ps.  xlviii.  12-14.  A  sketch  at  the 
close  of  this  volume  will  indicate  the  line  of  thought ;  but  the 
peroration  was  grand  beyond  the  power  of  pen  to  describe.  It 
wants  the  inspiration  of  the  hour,  the  spirit  that  imbued  the 
heart  of  the  man  of  God,  the  magnificent  voice,  the  eloquent 
tongue  and  the  noble  physique,  all  aglow  with  spiritual  fervor, 
his  face  shining  with  heavenly  lustre,  and  his  countenance 
beaming  with  the  glory  of  God,  to  properly  portray  that  occa- 
sion. It  was  eloquence  on  fire;  it  was  oratory  in  a  blaze;  ft 
was  rhetoric  baptized  with  pentecostal  flame ;  it  was  God  filling 
the  soul,  and  the  glory  of  God  shining  forth  in  the  face  of  His 
heaven-deputed  messenger  to  proclaim  the  glories  of  the  gospel 
of  the  Son  of  God.  He  made  a  series  of  climaxes :  as  he  called 
upon  all  true  believers  to  "walk  about  Zion,"  and  then,  as 
though  he  was  marshalling  a  great  army,  he  swung  them  round 
and  round  our  spiritual  Zion,  till  line  on  line,  tier  on  tier, 
widened  out  in  circles  succeeding  circles,  and  no  human  eye 
could  discover  the  outer  circle ;  he  then  set  the  mighty  cohort  in 
motion,  and  round  and  round  they  swung,  gazing  on  the  great 
temple  and  towers  of  Mount  Zion.  Jews  and  Gentiles  were 
there;  bond  and  free,  Scythian  and  barbarian,  Greek  and  Ro- 
man— all  classes,  all  nations,  all  kindreds  and  all  tongues  were 
there.  "Tell  the  towers  thereof."  "Her  stately  towers,"  un- 
moved by  the  winds  of  centuries  and  undisturbed  by  the  roll 
and  decay  of  ages,  piercing  the  heavens  with  their  pinnacles 
and  reflecting  their  illuminating  grandeur  upon  earth  and  sky  I 


160  LIFE   OF   REV.    CHARLES   PITMAN,   D.D. 

"  Mark  ye  well  her  bulwarks,"  her  impenetrable  and  immova- 
ble foundations !  The  thunders  of  a  thousand  ages,  or  the  earth- 
quakes of  centuries  move  them  not!  Ye  men  of  God!  ye 
women  of  God !  they  defy  the  threatening  tempests  of  hell  and 
thwart  the  idle  rage  of  the  arch-fiend  of  perdition !  "  Consider 
her  palaces," — Zion,  built  on  a  Rock,  beautiful  and  majestic  in 
all  her  proportions!  She  is  the  glory  of  all  nations  and  the 
admiration  of  all  worlds !  Proclaim  it  to  all  people !  Tell  it  to 
your  friends,  your  neighbors,  your  children,  that  they  may  tell 
it  to  the  generations  following !  "  For  this  God  is  our  God 
forever,  and  He  will  be  our  guide,  even  unto  death."  Thank 
God,  though  the  lashing  waves  of  infidelity  have  beat  against 
our  Zion  for  nearly  six  thousand  years,  yet  has  she  survived 
them  all,  and  boldly  and  bravely  she  stands,  to  display  the 
power  and  wisdom  of  her  Maker  and  God. 

But  we  forbear,  conscious  that  our  description  falls  far  below 
the  glory  of  that  scene,  which  was  so  graphically,  and  so  vividly, 
and  with  such  fervor  and  enthusiasm  portrayed  by  Mr.  Pitman 
that  morning.  It  was  a  sermon  that  was  never  to  be  forgotten  by 
scores  and  hundreds  down  to  the  latest  hour  of  their  conscious 
being;  and  the  dear  old  saint  who,  with  broken  intonations, 
narrated  it  to  the  writer,  often  broke  out  in  exclamations  of 
joy,  with  which  these  thoughts  fired  her  soul.  Mr.  Pitman 
was  a  powerful  preacher,  and  on  many  occasions  delivered 
transcendently  glorious  messages  of  divine  truth;  but  on  this 
occasion  he  seemed  to  take  wing  and  soar  into  the  invisible 
realm,  where,  having  his  eyes  opened  upon  celestial  scenery  and 
gazing  on  Mount  Zion,  the  city  of  the  living  God,  the  heavenly 
Jerusalem,  he  was,  as  it  were,  inspired  with  a  foretaste  of  the 
future  glory  of  the  heavenly  world,  and  his  wonderfully  sub- 
lime descriptive  powers  were  wrought  up  to  their  highest  ten- 
sion and  utmost  stretch  of  human  power. 

Dr.  Pitman  dedicated  the  Wharton  Street  M.  E.  Church, 
Philadelphia,  the  Cross  Street  M.  E.  Church,  Paterson,  N.  J., 


GEE  AT  NUMBER  OF  CHURCH  DEDICATIONS.      161 

the  Broad  Street  M.  E.  Church,  Burlington,  N.  J.,  the  Union 
M.  E.  Church,  Camden,  the  M.  E.  Church  at  Jacobstown,  N.  J., 
the  M.  E.  Church  at  Vineyard  Haven,  Mass.,  the  Eighth  Street 
M.  E.  Church,  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  the  M.  E.  Church  at  Sing 
Sing,  N.  Y.,  the  M.  E.  Church  at  Marshall's  Cove,  L.  I.,  N.  Y., 
the  M.  E.  Church  at  Pennington,  N.  J.,  the  M.  E.  Church  at 
Bellville,  N.  J.,  the  church  at  Cape  May  C.  H.,  N.  J.,  and 
churches  in  Connecticut,  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsyl- 
vania, Delaware,  Maryland,  and  hundreds  of  towns,  villages* 
boroughs  and  cities  shared  his  valuable  and  highly  efficient 
labors. 

To  mention  all  the  church  dedications  and  reopening  services 
he  attended  and  officiated  at,  and  the  circumstances  connected 
therewith,  as  has  already  been  said,  would  more  than  fill  a  vol- 
ume, and  quoting  from  one  who  had,  personally,  the  opportu- 
nity of  knowing  for  a  period  of  time,  at  least,  to  which  re- 
ference has  already  been  made,  "that  the  call  for  dedication 
services  averaged  three  per  month,  and  in  later  periods  of  his 
ministry,  sometimes  three  in  a  single  week."  And  if  you  go 
among  what  are  now  considered  our  older  churches  in  Pennsyl- 
vania, New  Jersey  and  Delaware,  and  ask  the  question  of  the 
people  of  these  localities,  when  was  this  church  built  and  who 
dedicated  it,  the  elderly  class  will  say  "  in  Pitman's  time,  and 
Brother  Pitman  dedicated  it."  It  has  been  our  privilege  to 
know  personally  such  persons,  and  thus  become  cognizant  of 
these  facts  of  history. 

But  in  connection  with  the  out-door  labor  of  his  office,  he  not 
only  associated  the  work  of  dedicating  churches,  but  he  also 
availed  himself  of  the  privilege  of  attending  numerous  camp- 
meetings,  and  there,  while  his  preaching  exhibited  his  devout  and 
earnest  love  for  the  cause  of  Christ  and  the  salvation  of  souls, 
his  presence  indicated  the  importance  and  influence  of  the  great 
work  of  the  missionary  cause  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  so  that,  by 
the  former,  he  preached  Christ  to  the  unsaved  and  wanderer  from 
11 


162  LIFE   OF   BEV.   CHARLES   PITMAN,   D.D. 

the  fold  of  God,  by  the  other  he  kept  the  cause  of  missions 
and  the  benevolences  it  required  before  the  people. 

He  gives  an  account  of  the  great  "  West  Port  Camp-Meet- 
ing," held  at  West  Port  Point,  in  the  State  of  Massachusetts, 
commencing  on  the  13th  of  August,  1845.  The  following  is 
the  account  portrayed  by  his  own  master  hand,  which,  while 
for  its  richness  in  historical  lore  and  for  clearness  in  conception 
of  truth  and  lucidness  in  description  of  interest,  it  accords  to 
Dr.  Pitman  the  well-deserved  honor  of  being  a  man  of  fine 
imagination,  magnificent  descriptive  powers,  and  lofty  sentiment 
and  eloquent  utterance,  it  also  designates  him  as  a  man  whose 
capacious  mind  furnished  the  richest  material  for  nobleness  of 
heart,  gifted  intellect,  a  powerful  pen  and  eloquent  tongue,  and 
a  soul  filled  with  the  Holy  Spirit. 

Dr.  Pitman  says : 

"  Under  the  impression  that  my  services  were  not  needed  at  the  camp- 
meetings  which  were  being  held  in  the  vicinity  of  New  York,  and 
remembering  that  some  two  years  since  I  had  been  made  a '  Life-member 
of  the  New  England  Camp-Meetings,'  by  a  contribution  of  fifty  dollars 
to  the  missionary  cause,  I  determined  on  a  visit  to  Westport.  Accord- 
ingly, I  left  New  York  on  Wednesday  morning  at  eight  o'clock,  by  the 
Long  Island  Railroad,  taking  my  route  through  Newport,  where  I  put 
up  for  the  night,  with  my  old  friend,  Mr.  Remington,  with  whom  I  had 
a  comfortable  home  at  the  Providence  Conference  of  1844.  On  Thurs- 
day morning  about  half-past  four  o'clock,  through  the  kindness  of  my 
host,  I  was  on  my  way  to  Westport,  which  was  a  little  rising  twenty 
miles  distant.  We  arrived  on  the  ground  about  half-past  ten  o'clock. 
My  intimate  and  esteemed  brother  Harlow  from  Edgartown  was  deliv- 
ering his  message  to  the  people  when  we  entered  the  encampment.  It 
was  my  privilege  to  hear  only  a  part  of  his  sermon ;  but  it  was  said  to 
have  been  excellent,  and  from  what  I  heard  I  should  not  hesitate  to 
concur  in  that  judgment.  My  lodgings  were  assigned  me  in  the  Edgar- 
town  tent.  Of  course,  I  considered  myself  happy  in  having  such  an 
allotment.  In  any  other  tent  I  should  have  been  almost  an  entire 
stranger ;  in  this,  I  was  at  home,  and  among  my  tried  and  cherished 
Mends. 

•"  The  meeting  from  its  commencement,  as  I  learned,  had  been  inter- 


AN  ACCOUNT  OF  WESTPORT  CAMP  MEETING,  MASS.        163 

esting,  and  promising  indications  of  good  had  already  appeared.  It 
continued  to  progress  with  increasing  interest  until  the  close.  There 
were  from  twenty  to  thirty  preachers  on  the  ground,  all  of  whom  seemed 
to  be  much  in  the  spirit  of  their  work.  It  would  be  a  pleasing  task  to 
me  to  notice  particularly  the  sermons  to  which  I  had  the  pleasure  of 
listening,  and  to  present  a  brief  outline  of  the  subjects  discussed.  But 
this  course  would  extend  this  article  to  an  undesirable  length.  Suffice 
it  to  say,  the  preaching  was  of  the  right  stamp — plain,  pointed  and 
evangelical.  There  appeared  to  be  no  disposition  in  the  officiating 
brethren  to  deal  in  metaphysical  subtilties,  or  to  clothe  the  truths  they 
delivered  with  meretricious  ornaments.  And  happily  for  the  preachers, 
there  seemed  to  be  among  their  auditors  no  tastes  of  this  kind  to  gratify. 
All  appeared  to  '  desire  the  sincere  milk  of  the  word,'  and  the  whole 
company  of  preachers  united  to  meet  this  desire,  in  all  simplicity  and 
godly  sincerity.  I  trust  I  shall  not  be  considered  invidious  when  I  say, 
that  though  the  sermons  on  this  occasion  were  all  good,  there  were  two 
in  which  I  was  particularly  interested.  These  were  preached  by  fathers 
Bonney  and  Webb,  two  aged  veterans  in  Immanuel's  army,  who  still 
live,  not  merely  as  wounded  soldiers,  to  look  out  of  their  tents  and  ask, 
'  How  goes  the  battle  ?'  but  as  the  intrepid  and  unconquered  captains  of 
the  Lord's  hosts,  to  stand  forth  in  the  thickest  of  the  fight,  and  to  do 
glorious  execution  among  the  ranks  of  Messiah's  foes.  These  discourses 
were  '  not  in  word  only,  but  also  in  power,  and  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  and 
in  much  assurance.'  They  were  indeed  model  sermons,  which,  in  all 
their  essential  qualities,  our  junior  brethren  would  do  well  to  imitate. 
Clear  and  discriminating  in  doctrinal  truth,  chaste,  simple  and  dignified 
in  style,  animated  and  energetic  in  spirit,  they  could  not  fail  to  be  effi- 
cient. It  was  evident  to  all  that  love  was  the  constraining  principle  by 
which  these  aged  and  devoted  servants  of  God  were  impelled  onward  in 
their  Master's  work.  Catching,  to  some  extent,  the  inspiration  of  the 
men  and  of  their  theme,  I  almost  involuntarily  repeated  the  following 
from  our  own  Christian  bard : 


"  Without  this  sacred  fire,  this  vital  chrism, 
The  sermon  may  be  fine-wrought  mechanism, 
Correct  and  clear,  and  orthodox  and  right, 
But  'tis  the  clearness  of  a  wintry  night ; 
There  is  no  fire  to  warm  the  frozen  soul, 
The  sun  is  not  in  the  zenith,  but  the  pole. 
I  am  not  warmed,  however  well  you  preach, 
A  grain  of  love  is  worth  a  ton  of  speech." 


164  LIFE   OF   REV.    CHARLES   PITMAN,   D.D. 

"  During  the  delivery  of  these  sermons  almost  every  eye  was  fixed, 
and  every  heart  deeply  interested.  To  me  they  were  spiritual  feasts.  I 
sat  and  wept,  and  while  looking  through  my  tears  at  their  time-honored 
brows,  I  could  not  but  rejoice  that  God  had  spared  these  venerable  men 
— the  almost  solitary  remnants  of  a  preceding  generation — so  long  to  go 
in  and  out  before  the  hosts  of  our  Israel.  May  their  setting  sun  be 
cloudless,  and  their  falling  mantles  rest  upon  the  young  men  who  are  to 
occupy  their  places  when  they  shall  sleep  in  Jesus ! 

"  This  is  the  second  camp-meeting  I  have  attended  in  New  England  ; 
and  I  cannot  withhold  the  expression  of  my  high  gratification  with  the 
order  and  solemnity  which  prevailed  in  both  instances.  At  the  one  of 
which  I  now  speak  nothing  transpired  to  interrupt  the  solemnity  of  the 
religious  exercises  from  the  commencement  to  the  close.  Even  on  the 
Sabbath  the  congregation,  though  large,  was  orderly,  attentive  and  gave 
visible  and  marked  indications  that  the  word  preached  was  not  without 
effect. 

"  An  incident  occurred  at  the  close  of  the  sermon  on  Sabbath  after- 
noon, which  was  truly  affecting.  A  very  interesting  young  lady,  richly 
clad  in  the  drapery  of  fashion's  most  admired  votaries,  was  standing  a 
little  distance  from  the  preachers'  stand,  when  it  was  announced  that, 
on  account  of  the  denseness  of  the  crowd  and  for  other  reasons,  the 
prayer-meeting  usually  held  after  the  sermon  would  be  dispensed  with 
on  that  occasion.  She  was  weeping  profusely,  and  on, hearing  this, 
remarked,  in  substance,  so  as  to  be  heard  by  one  of  the  sisters  standing 
near  by,  as  follows :  '  What  shall  I  do  ?  My  agony  of  spirit  is  more 
than  I  can  bear.  I  had  hoped  to  have  the  privilege  of  going  to  the 
altar,  and  receiving  the  benefit  of  the  prayers  of  God's  people.  But, 
alas !  I  must  leave  the  ground  in  an  hour  or  two,  without  their  prayers, 
and  without  relief,  and  without  the  privilege  of  returning.'  As  she 
uttered  these  words  she  seemed  to  be  almost  overwhelmed  with  a  parox- 
ysm of  feeling.  Who  can  tell  how  many  others  left  the  ground  in  simi- 
lar circumstances  ?  May  the  Holy  Spirit  continue  with  them  to  deepen 
and  render  his  work  effectual ! 

"  But  the  effects  of  this  meeting  were  not  so  signal  in  the  multiplication 
of  new  converts  as  in  the  restoration  of  backslidden  and  formal  members, 
and  the  quickening  and  strengthening  of  believers.  Nor  is  this  work 
less  important  than  the  other  ;  for  it  must  be  admitted  that  apostates 
and  formal  professors  are  no  less  exposed  to  ruin  than  those  who  are 
without  the  pale  of  the  Church.  Indeed,  in  some  respects,  their  circum- 
stances are  even  more  perilous.  They  wound  the  Saviour  in  the  house 
of  his  friends,  and  thereby  aggravate  their  guilt  and  render  themselves 


WESTPORT  CAMP  MEETING.  165 

liable  to  a  fiercer  anguish  and  a  deeper  damnation.  Perhaps  there  were 
never  more  persons  in  the  M.  E.  Church,  who,  by  their  own  admission, 
are  destitute  of  vital  piety  than  at  the  present  time.  If  this  be  true,  it 
may,  in  part,  account  for  the  fact  of  the  great  spiritual  dearth  which  for 
many  months  has  prevailed  almost  throughout  the  length  and  breadth 
of  our  Zion.  If  we  would  see  her  again  clothed  with  beauty  and  strength, 
and,  as  formerly,  marching  on  to  further  conquests  and  triumphs,  we 
must  unceasingly  and  importunately  plead  for  such  an  outpouring  of  the 
Spirit  as  shall  result  in  a  deep,  penetrating,  purifying  and  universal  re- 
vival in  the  Church.  Her  piety  must  become  more  elevated  and  uni- 
form. She  must  never  cease  to  feel,  and  to  act  upon  the  principle  that 
the  secret  of  her  strength,  as  well  as  the  glory  of  her  character,  is  in  her 
holiness.  It  is  matter  of  rejoicing  that  very  many  of  those  who  had 
been  '  at  ease  in  Zion,'  were  at  this  meeting  made  alive  from  the  dead, 
and  baptized  into  the  Spirit  of  their  Master. 

"  On  Monday,  the  last  and  great  day  of  the  feast,  the  sacrament  of  the 
Lord's  Supper  was  administered.  This  was  a  grand  and  imposing  scene 
—one  at  which  angels  might  have  gazed  while  they  pondered 

1  Dying  love's  mysterious  cause.' 

The  arrangement  of  the  seats  was  such  as  to  reach  nearly  across  the  up- 
per part  of  the  ground  ;  so  that  several  scores  might  kneel  at  once  and 
receive  the  memorials  of  the  Redeemer's  passion.  The  circle  formed  by 
the  congregation  around  the  place  of  communion — the  solemnity  de- 
picted in  every  countenance — the  harmony  and  spirituality  of  the  sing- 
ing— the  utterance  of  the  appropriate  petitions  in  the  prayer  of  conse- 
cration— all,  all  conspired  to  enkindle  in  the  heart  the  most  devout  and 
spiritual  emotions.  The  affecting  emblems  of  the  broken  body  and  shed 
blood  of  our  redeeming  Lord  were  first  received  by  the  ministers  pres- 
ent, the  most  of  whom  still  remained  on  the  ground.  And  while  these 
men  of  God  were  kneeling  side  by  side  and  musing  upon  the  tragic 
scenes  of  Calvary,  the  holy  fire  burned,  their  hearts  melted  and  ran  to- 
gether, and  methought  I  almost  heard  the  whisper  from  every  one, 
'  Henceforth  it  shall  be  my  sweetest  privilege  and  highest  honor  to 
preach  Christ  and  Him  crucified.' 

"  The  preachers  having  risen,  the  long  seat  was  successively  occupied  by 
the  members  present,  until  all  who  desired  had  participated  in  this  sol- 
emn feast.  O  !  how  delightful  it  was  to  see  so  many  of  the  friends  of 
Christ  mingling  their  sympathies  and  tears,  while  they  covenanted  to- 
gether, '  for  God  to  live  and  die  ! '  May  we  all  meet  around  His  sacred 
board  in  heaven,  where  we  shall  not  need  any  emblematic  representa- 


166  LIFE   OF   REV.   CHAKLES   PITMAN,   D.D. 

tions  of  our  Saviour's  dying  love,  but  where,  without  a  dimming  veil  be- 
tween, 'we  shall  see  him  as  he  is,'  and  gazing  on  his  exalted  and 
glorified  humanity,  attune  our  golden  harps  to  redemption's  song  for 
ever  and  ever  I 

"  And  now  as  a  climax  to  the  whole,  and  in  connection  with  these  de- 
lightful exercises,  came  off  our  missionary  meeting.  I  had  received  a 
note  from  Brother  Upham,  the  Presiding  Elder,  during  the  afternoon 
sermon,  in  which  he  kindly  proposed  to  give  me  the  privilege  of  taking 
a  missionary  collection  at  the  close  of  the  evening  exercises.  I  greatly 
preferred  that  this  effort  should  be  made  immediately  at  the  close  of  the 
sacramental  services,  and  so  informed  him.  To  this  he  most  cheerfully 
assented.  Accordingly,  the  moment  these  exercises  were  closed,  and 
before  the  people  had  retired,  I  sprung  upon  the  seat  at  which  we  had 
just  been  kneeling,  and  delivered  a  short  address  on  the  subject  of  mis- 
sions. Every  eye  was  fixed,  and  every  heart  seemed  to  beat  in  unison 
with  the  speaker's  theme.  It  was  no  time  to  reason  with  flesh  and  blood 
nor  to  conjure  up  excuses  to  foster  the  spirit  of  covetousness.  The 
spirit  of  true  piety  predominated  and  reigned  ;  and  this  spirit  is  always 
favorable  to  the  cause  of  missions.  In  the  course  of  my  remarks  I  dis- 
tinctly stated  that  after  the  repeated  efforts  which  had  been  made  by  the 
Presiding  Elder  to  raise  a  sufficient  amount  to  meet  the  expenses  of  the 
encampment — which  to  me  appeared  unreasonably  heavy — I  could  not 
find  it  in  my  heart  to  press  another  collection  upon  them  in  the  usual 
way.  I  therefore  proposed,  that,  as  my  hat  had  become  so  much  dilapi- 
dated, that  I  should  soon  be  obliged  to  dismiss  it  from  regular  service,  I 
would  lay  it  upon  the  table  before  them,  hoping  that  in  the  close  of  its 
very  useful  career,  it  might  have  the  honor  of  receiving  a  good  contribu- 
tion for  the  cause  of  missions — and  that  entirely  upon  the  voluntary 
principle.  I  took  care  to  insist,  at  the  same  time,  that  no  person  who 
did  not  consider  it  a  privilege,  and  even  a  part  of  his  religion,  to  aid  in 
the  conversion  of  the  world,  should  cast  a  cent  into  the  collection. 
While  I  was  yet  speaking  there  was  a  great  move  among  the  people,  and 
a  constant  jingling  of  money  as  it  passed  into  the  hat.  The  people  hung 
around  the  consecrated  spot,  as  if  chained  by  magic,  while  they,  in  quick 
succession  rushed  to  the  place  of  deposit  and  cast  in  their  missionary 
offerings.  It  was  a  fact  which  was  much  spoken  of  afterward,  that  the 
very  moment  the  people  began  to  give  the  money,  floods  of  divine  influ- 
ence were  poured  upon  them  ;  all  hearts  were  melted,  and  '  heart  seized 
heart,'  until  shouts  of  praise  involuntarily  burst  from  preachers  and 
people,  and,  mingling  in  sweet  confusion,  rose  up  to  heaven  as  a  sweet- 
smelling  sacrifice  before  God.  The  whole  congregation  seemed  to  be 


•• 


WESTPORT  CAMP   MEETING.  167 

rapt  in  a  flame  of  heavenly  love.  The  spirit  which  prevailed  at  that 
moment  is  doubtless  the  spirit  which,  when  it  becomes  general,  will  be 
the  precursor  of  the  world's  restoration  to  God.  For  a  time  the  strong 
voice  of  the  speaker  was  completely  drowned  by  this  outbreak  of  good 
feeling.  Unable  to  proceed,  I  paused,  and  leaned  against  a  sapling 
which  stood  near  me,  and  mingled  my  tears  and  praises  with  those  of 
the  delighted  audience.  Meanwhile,  men,  women  and  children  seemed 
to  vie  with  each  other  who  should  first  reach  the  place  of  attraction — the 
old  hat.  Several  articles  of  jewelry  were  given  by  ladies  who  very  ra- 
tionally concluded  that  they  could  do  better  without  such  ornaments 
than  the  heathen  could  without  the  gospel.  Among  these  was  a  beauti- 
ful gold  pencil,  with  which  the  outline  of  this  account  was  written.  For 
what  are  considered  good  reasons,  the  name  of  the  donor  is  not  given. 

"I  must  not  omit  to  mention  that  while  the  money  was  yet  coming  in, 
a  proposition  was  made  by  Brother  Upham,  to  raise  $20  to  constitute  Sis- 
ter Beedle,  the  mother  of  Brother  S.  Beedle,  now  stationed  in  New  Bed- 
ford, a  life-member  of  the  parent  missionary  society  at  New  York.  This 
mother  in  Israel,  who  had  been  in  this  country  only  about  seven  weeks, 
is  an  English  lady,  and  was  converted  to  God  through  the  instrumental- 
ity of  that  man  of  God,  Rev.  William  Bramwell.  The  proposition  was 
promptly  met,  and  when  Sister  Beedle  was  made  acquainted  with  this 
mark  of  respect,  she  came  forward  and  gave  us  a  most  affectionate  mis- 
sionary speech,  in  which  she  expressed  her  warmest  thanks  to  the  kind 
friends  by  whom  this  honor  had  been  conferred. 

"  On  the  whole,  I  must  be  permitted  to  say,  though  I  have  witnessed 
many  deeply  interesting  missionary  meetings,  this,  regarding  its  spirit 
and  religious  interest,  exceeded  them  all.  And  I  am  far  from  being 
alone  in  this  opinion.  All,  with  one  voice,  who  witnessed  it,  appeared 
to  unite  in  the  opinion  that  its  like  had  not  been  seen. 

"  On  Tuesday  morning,  about  seven  o'clock,  the  congregation  was  called 
together  for  the  last  time.  The  Presiding  Elder  gave  a  short  but  most 
suitable  and  searching  address,  and,  after  a  warm  and  appropriate  prayer, 
the  weeping  assembly  were  dismissed,  and  in  a  few  minutes  were  separ- 
ated, never  all  to  meet  again  till  summoned  to  the  judgment  seat  by 
the  clangor  of  the  archangel's  trump." 

New  York,  Sept.  1, 1845.  C.  PITMAN. 


CHAPTEE  XII. 

DR.    PITMAN  AS   A   PREACHER, 

"I  venerate  the  man  whose  heart  is  warm, 
Whose  doctrine  and  whose  life, 
Co-incident,  exhibits  lucid  proof 
That  he  is  honest  in  the  sacred  cause. 
To  such  I  render  more  than  mere  respect, 
Whose  actions  say  that  they  respect  themselves." 

COWPEE. 

IN  his  early  history,  Dr.  Pitman  was  very  diffident  and  re- 
served in  his  manner  and  mode  of  address,  and  there  was  a 
seeming  hesitation  and  shrinking  when  he  attempted  to  preach ; 
even  before  he  commenced  the  effort,  his  mind  seemed  greatly 
burdened  with  the  responsibilities  of  his  work.  In  fact,  it  was 
some  time  before  he  yielded  to  the  call  of  God  and  believed, 
or  openly  acknowledged  his  call  to  preach  the  gospel;  and, 
in  his  case,  the  Church  was  the  first  to  discover  the  fact 
that  he  was  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost  to  take  upon  him  the 
office  of  the  ministry.  His  cousin,  the  Rev.  Joseph  Bennett, 
(to  whom  allusion  has  been  made  before)  preaching  on  Asbury 
Circuit,  in  New  Jersey,  some  hundred  or  more  miles  away  from 
where  he  was,  in  a  different  part  of  the  work,  wrote  to  Mr.  Pit- 
man his  impressions  and  hopes  in  reference  to  his  becoming  a 
minister  of  Christ.  This  took  place  some  two  years  after  Mr. 
Pitman's  conversion,  and  the  letter  expressed  Mr.  Bennett's 
convictions  and  expectations  "  to  see  Charles  in  the  Lord's  vine- 
yard cultivating  Immanuel's  land."  And  it  seems  to  have  been 
a  question  which  was  for  several  years  agitating  his  thoughts. 
The  fact  of  his  being  married  presented  a  formidable  barrier  in 
his  mind  to  entering  the  Conference,  and  the  Spartan-like 
168 


AS  A  PREACHER.  169 

severity  of  the  fathers,  seemed  to  require  a  period  of  probation 
in  celibacy  of  every  preacher  in  the  Conference  work,  before 
entering  into  matrimonial  engagements.  But  the  early  death 
of  his  young  wife  at  that  time,  seemed  to  be  a  providential 
removing  of  that  embarrassment,  and  after  it,  he  then  felt  more 
than  ever  it  was  his  duty  to  obey  the  call  of  God,  and  go  forth 
as  an  ambassador  for  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  and  so,  about 
Christmas  of  the  year  1816,  Mr.  Pitman  began  to  assist  the 
preachers  on  their  circuits  and  in  their  revival  efforts,  in  Bur- 
lington County,  New  Jersey,  near  the  place  of  his  nativity,  and 
it  is  said,  "  the  common  people  heard  him  gladly." 

Mr.  Pitman  now  felt  that  he  was  truly  called  of  God  to  go 
forth  and  preach  the  gospel.  It  is  an  important  thing  for  a 
man  who  is  about  to  take  upon  himself  the  work  of  the  min- 
istry to  know  that  he  is  called  of  God  to  this  work  ;  hence,  the 
question  is  often  asked  by  those  who  are  about  to  enter  the 
work,  "  Am  I  called  of  God  to  the  ministry  ?  and  what  are  the 
evidences  by  which  I  may  judge,  or  know,  that  I  am  called  or 
chosen  to  this  sacred  calling?"  We  answer  :  The  evidences  of 
a  divine  call  to  the  ministry  are,  a  deep  persuasion,  or  an  abid- 
ing conviction,  of  the  call ;  a  sensible  impression  that  it  is  from 
God ;  a  burden  of  soul  to  comply  with  the  divine  requirement ; 
a  willingness  to  enter  the  work ;  and  a  firmness  of  purpose  to 
leave  all  things  else  and  follow  the  dictates  and  directions  of 
the  Divine  Spirit,  with  the  other  necessary  qualifications  of 
gifts,  grace  and  usefulness,  and  a  clear  understanding  of  the 
way  of  salvation,  with  ability  to  make  it  known  to  others. 

Mr.  Pitman  felt  that  he  was  called  of  God  to  preach  the  gos- 
pel, and  conscientiously  and  fearlessly,  as  well  as  earnestly  and 
boldly,  did  he  give  full  proof,  to  the  correctness  of  his  impres- 
sions and  feelings,  and  no  one,  in  after  years,  ever  questioned 
his  call  to  the  ministry. 

Mr.  Pitman  was  an  earnest  preacher ;  his  earnestness  was  one 
of  the  elements  of  his  power.  He  felt  and  acted  like  a  man 


170  LIFE  OF   REV.   CHARLES   PITMAN,    D.D. 

who  was  convinced  that  he  had  a  great  work  to  do,  and  but  a 
short  time  to  do  it.  Wherever  he  went,  or  in  whatever  society 
he  was  thrown  by  circumstances,  he  always  had  a  word  for  his 
divine  Ma'ster's  name,  and  in  preaching,  he  never  was  known  to 
deliver  what  might  be  characterized  as  a  "  tame,  or  moderate 
sermon ; "  and  while  his  enthusiasm  and  zeal  was  great,  and 
manifested  itself  in  every  sermon,  exhortation  or  address  which 
he  delivered,  yet  the  steel  was  tempered  for  the  emergency,  and 
he  always  impressed  his  hearers  with  the  importance  of  the 
truth  he  was  presenting.  He  was  most  emphatically  an  earnest 
man,  a  sincere,  God-fearing  preacher  of  righteousness,  and 
always  made  his  pulpit  ministrations  subservient  to  the  greatest 
amount  of  spiritual  good  to  the  people,  and  this  gave  him  great 
power  and  influence  over  the  masses,  and  as  with  one  of  his 
temperament  he  always  felt  the  inspiration  of  great  occasions, 
which  drew  from  him  those  most  wonderful  and  transcendently 
glorious  pulpit  efforts. 

Mr.  Pitman's  manner  was  always  solemn,  sedate  and  recol- 
lected,— so  much  so,  that  by  some  he  was  thought  to  be  of  a 
"  gloomy,  dyspeptic  nature,"  and  suffering  at  times  from  severe 
nervous  prostration  ;  but  while  he  was  calm,  grave  and  dignified 
in  his  manner,  he  enjoyed  the  society  of  the  preachers  and  his 
friends  very  much,  and  at  times  could  indulge  in  innocent 
pleasantries  without  destroying  the  equipoise  of  his  religious 
convictions,  or  vitiating  the  great  responsibilities  of  his  work  as 
a  minister  of  Christ.  He  knew  the  difference  between  flippancy 
and  cheerfulness,  folly  and  common  sense,  social  intercourse  and 
sinful  levity,  and  in  no  instance  did  he  suffer  himself  to  be  drawn 
into  a  snare,  or  to  be  taken  captive  by  the  devil.  An  incident 
occurred  while  he  was  Missionary  Secretary  in  New  York  which 
will  serve  our  purpose  to  illustrate  this  characteristic  of  his  na- 
ture, and  show  that  his  emotional  nature  was  susceptible  of  hila- 
rious movement,  even  under  sacred  influences. 

In  1842,  when  the  New  York  Conference  held  its  session  in 


AS  A   PREACHER.  171 

New  York  city,  one  Sabbath  morning,  Dr.  (afterwards  Bishop) 
"William  Capers,  of  South  Carolina,  preached  in  the  7th  Street 
M.  E.  Church,  of  which  Rev.  J.  B.  Wakeley,  D.  D.,  was  pas- 
tor. His  text  was  Ecclesiastes  11  :  1,  2.  At  the  close  of  the 
sermon,  the  eccentric  and  notable  Rev.  Edward  T.  Taylor, 
from  Boston,  having  come  in  the  church  during  the  services, 
was  observed  by  the  pastor,  and  was  asked  to  come  forward  and 
conclude  the  services  with  prayer.  He  did  so,  and  began  in  this 
way :  "  O  Lord,  command  thy  blessing  to  rest  upon  the  one 
who  has  preached  to  us  this  morning.  We  have  often  read  his 
name  in  the  minutes,  but  we  never  saw  his  face,  or  heard  his 
voice  before.  We  bless  thee  that  he  has  not  only  come  from  a 
warm  climate,  but  that  he  hath  a  warm  heart.  O  Lord,  the 
preacher  has  skinned  us  to-day,  but  thou  knowest  we  deserve 
it.  O  save  us  from  skulking !  Keep  us  from  dodging !  Help 
us  to  bear  it  like  men  !  O  Lord  God,  forgive  our  meanness,  and 
if  you  will  only  forgive  us  the  past,  we  will  go  into  the  water, 
not  only  leg  deep,  but  up  to  our  chin,  only,  Lord,  don't  let  it 
overflow  us,  don't  let  it  drown  us,"  &c.  "  There  were  over  a 
hundred  preachers  present.  There  was  a  mighty,  overwhelming 
influence  attended  that  prayer.  Tears  flowed  freely  from  eyes 
all  over  the  house,  and  handkerchiefs  were  greatly  in  demand. 
Rev.  Dr.  Wakeley  was  kneeling  in  the  pulpit  between  Dr.  Ca- 
pers and  Dr.  Pitman.  The  former  trembled  and  wept.  The 
latter  wept  and  laughed — smiles  and  tears  were  strangely 
blended.  Such  a  scene  we  had  never  witnessed  before,  and  never 
expect  to  see  again." 

"  There  was  a  man  who  attended  that  church  frequently,  who 
was  not  a  cold-water  man.  The  next  day,"  says  Dr.  Wakeley, 
"  we  saw  him,  he  was  intoxicated  and  full  of  criticism."  Said 
he  to  Dr.  Wakeley,  "  What  right  had  you,  or  Dr.  Pitman, 
yesterday,  to  laugh  in  the  pulpit,  any  more  than  we  had  to  laugh 
out  of  it  ?"  "  Ah  !  yesterday  !"  exclaimed  he,  "  the  solemn 
Pitman  was  the  laughing  Pitman." 


172  LIFE   OF   REV.    CHARLES   PITMAN,   D.D. 

And  yet  deep  solemnity  always  characterized  Mr.  Pitman's 
preaching  and  all  his  public  efforts.  He  felt  a  great  burden  of 
soul  for  the  upbuilding  of  the  Redeemer's  kingdom  among  men 
and  the  salvation  of  poor,  perishing  sinners,  especially  the  latter. 
He  aimed  to  get  souls  converted  ;  and  more  especially  was  this 
the  case  at  camp-meetings  and  in  revival  efforts,  in  which  he  so 
frequently  engaged.  References  have  often  been  made  to  these 
great  occasions,  when  his  sympathies  were  stirred  to  their  very 
depths,  and  he  could  only  find  relief  in  tears.  "  At  one  of  these 
meetings  in  the  woods,  when  a  solemn  and  impressive  discourse 
had  been  delivered  without  producing  much  visible  effect,  during 
its  presentation  Mr.  Pitman  had  been,  in  his  imagination,  plac- 
ing all  that  vast  congregation  before  the  judgment-seat  of  Christ, 
where  they  were  to  receive  their  final  award.  He  thought  the 
matter  over  and  over,  until  it  seemed  to  be  a  reality  ;  with  these 
views  and  feelings  he  arose  to  exhort,  but  the  awful  danger  to 
which  the  people  were  exposed,  so  overwhelmed  his  burdened 
heart  that  utterance  was  choked,  and  he  could  not  speak  a  single 
word  He  stood  for  two  or  three  minutes  motionless,  and  then, 
covered  with  confusion  at  his  seemingly  awkward  position, 
waved  his  hand  towards  the  altar  and  burst  into  a  flood  of  tears. 
The  people  who  sat  unmoved,  though  solemnly  impressed  under 
the  sermon,  quite  unprepared  for  this  outburst  of  sympathy  on 
their  behalf,  yielded  to  the  truth,  and  came — ten,  twenty,  fifty, 
a  hundred,  two  hundred,  three  hundred,  crowding  around  the 
rude  altar  in  the  forest,  all  seeking  the  forgiveness  of  their  sins 
and  renewal  of  heart  in  righteousness.  Glorious  power  had  at- 
tended Mr.  Pitman's  words  a  thousand  times,  but  in  this  in- 
stance, an  equal,  if  not  greater  power,  attended  Mr.  Pitman's 
tears."* 

Mr.  Pitman  was  known  from  childhood  to  have  a  Jeremiah's 
heart,  as  well  as  a  St.  John's  nature,  and  these  refined  sensibili- 
ties, engendered  by  a  mother's  example  and  devotion,  were  cul- 
*  Rev.  E.  H.  Stokes,  D.D.,  Conference  Memorial,  page  262. 


DE.  PITMAN  PEEACHED  THE  DOCTEINES  OF  EELIGION.    173 

tured  by  him,  and  in  after  years  developed  in  that  noble  and 
deeply  sympathetic  nature  that  characterized,  largely,  his  minis- 
terial life  and  work,  and  was  one  of  a  combination  of  elements 
and  qualities  that  made  up  the  secrets  of  his  great  power  and 
efficient  agency  in  leading  souls  to  Christ. 

Some  of  Dr.  Pitman's  sermons  were  of  an  elaborate  character, 
as  his  sermon  on  "  Spiritual  Pathology/'  or  "  The  Symptoms, 
Causes  and  Cure  of  Diseases  Incident  to  the  Human  Soul." 
This  discourse  was  first  preached  in  the  M.  E.  Church  in  Bridge- 
ton,  N.  J.,  on  the  18th  of  January,  1824,  and  subsequently  in 
other  places,  and  exhibits  Dr.  Pitman's  clear  and  analyti- 
cal mind,  and  his  superior  powers  to  trace  analogical  and  meta- 
physical distinctions  to  their  utmost  extent,  as  well  as  to  show 
his  strong  and  equally-balanced  logical  acumen  in  pushing  an 
argument  to  its  most  emphatic  and  irresistible  conclusion.  The 
sermon  is  a  masterly  production,  and  has  been  pronounced  as  an 
epitome  of  gospel  truth — an  embodiment  of  real  divinity — and 
is  one  of  the  finest  argumentative  productions  that  the  age  pro- 
duced, covering  some  forty-eight  pages  of  closely-written  manu- 
script, and  abounding  with  sublime  and  eloquent  utterances, 
which,  for  splendor  of  diction  and  beauty  of  rhetoric,  will  vie 
with  the  most  eloquent  and  finished  scholars  of  this  day.  A 
full  outline  of  the  sermon  is  appended  at  the  close  of  this  vol- 
ume. 

Dr.  Pitman  preached  the  doctrines  of  religion.  Our  fathers 
in  the  ministry  were  noted  for  the  earnestness,  and  the  tenacity, 
with  which  they  contended  for  the  faith  "  once  delivered  to  the 
saints."  The  five  points  of  Calvinism,  namely  :  1st.  of  "Pre- 
destination ;  2d.  "  of  the  Death  of  Christ ; "  3d.  "  of  Man's  Cor- 
ruption ;"  4th.  "of  Grace  and  Free-will ;"  5th.  "on  the  Final 
Perseverance  of  Saints,"  were  often  handled  by  these  sons  of 
thunder — these  Christian  philosophers  and  exact  logicians — with 
no  unsparing  hand,  and  the  doctrines  of  an  unlimited  and  un- 
proscribed  atonement,  of  the  merits  of  Christ's  death,  as  being 


174  LIFE   OF   REV.   CHARLES   PITMAN,    D.D. 

available  to  all  sinners  upon  the  conditions  of  the  gospel,  of 
the  depravity  and  utter  ruin  of  man  by  the  fall,  and  of  the 
amazing  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  man's  acceptance 
of  proffered  mercy  and  the  final  "  preservation  "  of  all  the  saints 
who  would  continue  faithful,  and  live  godly,  Christian  lives,  and 
who  were  "  looking  for  that  blessed  hope  and  glorious  appearing 
of  the  great  God  and  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,"  were  presented 
in  all  their  fulness  and  saving  efficacy. 

Dr.  Pitman  was  a  champion  in  the  exposition  and  defense  of 
these  great  Arminian  principles  of  Christian  Theology  versus 
Calvinism,  and  his  contemporary,  "  Billy  "  Hibbard,  was  another 
of  those  heroic  defenders  who  wielded  a  two-edged  sword  against 
the  heresies  of  those  times,  and  the  preaching  that  rejected  Christ 
as  the  universal  Saviour  of  mankind  upon  the  condition  of  the 
gospel  salvation,  and  which  rejection  met  not  only  with  the  em- 
phatic disapproval  of  these  sturdy  sons,  but  was  combated  by 
them  with  a  zealousness  of  argument  and  irresistible  presenta- 
tion of  truth,  which  convinced  multitudes  of  their  errors  and 
mistakes,  in  their  beliefs  and  acceptance  of  the  tenets  of  Cal- 
vinism. 

During  the  latter  part  of  Mr.  Hibbard's  ministry  he  published 
a  pamphlet,  or  rather  a  book,  in  which  he  elaborated  the  tenets 
and  dogmas  of  the  Calvinistic  theory  in  no  mild  terms ;  the  con- 
sequence was,  two  ministers  of  a  denomination,  holding  rigidly 
and  firmly  these  doctrines,  wrote  a  letter  to  the  Bishop  presiding 
at  the  ensuing  Annual  Conference  of  which  Mr.  Hibbard  was  a 
member,  in  which  they  expressed  their  chagrin  and  grievances, 
and  made  a  serious  charge  of  falsehood  and  misrepresentation 
against  William  Hibbard.  When  the  name  of  "  Hibbard  "  was 
called  in  open  Conference,  the  Bishop  asked  the  usual  question : 
"  Is  there  anything  against  him  ?  "  and  the  Presiding  Elder  an- 
swered, "  Nothing  against  him."  The  Bishop  then  said  he  had 
received  a  letter,  signed  by  two  ministers  of  another  denomina- 
tion, containing  a  complaint  against  Brother  Hibbard,  and  asked 


CHRISTIAN   THEOLOGY   VERSUS  CALVINISM.  175 

what  was  the  wish  of  the  Conference  in  regard  to  it.  Mr.  Hib- 
bard  sprang  to  his  feet,  and,  without  knowing  its  contents,  re- 
quested that  it  be  read  in  open  Conference;  the  request,  by  the 
action  of  the  Conference,  was  granted,  and  the  secretary  read  the 
letter,  which  stated  "  that  one  William  Hibbard,  a  Methodist 
preacher  belonging  to  your  body,  had  written  and  published  a 
book,  in  which  he  had  said  very  harsh  and  strong  things  against 
the  doctrines  and  teachings  of  John  Calvin,  and  that  these  say- 
ings were  derogatory  to  the  doctrines  and  belief  of  their  church- 
es." At  the  conclusion  of  the  reading  of  the  letter  and  the  com- 
plaint, the  Bishop  asked  :  "Brother  Hibbard,  what  have  you  to 
say  ? "  To  which  he  replied,  in  his  short,  laconic  and  sharp 
style :  "  Bishop,  did  I  understand  the  charges  and  complaints 
which  that  letter  contains  to  be  made  against  one  William  Hib- 
bard, of  the  Conference  ?  "  "  Yes,  sir,"  responded  the  Bishop. 
"Then,"  said  Brother  Hibbard,  "there  is  a  mistake  in  the  man ; 
my  name  is  '  Billy '  Hibbard,  and  my  father  was  no  fool  when  he 
gave  me  the  name  of  ^Billy.'  He  understood  what  he  was  about, 
and  meant  just  what  he  said,  that  my  name  is  '  Billy,'  and  not 
William  Hibbard,  and  the  letter  don't  refer  to  me  as  '  Billy  ' 
Hibbard."  The  effect  may  be  imagined,  as  soon  as  equilibrium 
was  restored  ;  a  half-dozen  voices  shouted  :  "  I  move  the  char- 
acter of  Brother  Hibbard  pass ; "  and  it  was  passed  by  a  sea  of 
uplifted  arms  and  hands  that  confronted  the  Bishop,  and  ex- 
pressed the  unfaltering  and  implicit  faith  the  Conference  had  in 
Brother  Hibbard's  soundness  of  doctrine  and  unblemished 
Christian  character. 

One  of  the  great  causes  of  the  marked  success  of  these  men,  was 
that  they  preached  the  doctrines  of  religion  more  exclusively  in 
their  day  than  they  are  now  preached,  i.  e.  they  kept  close  to  the 
line  of  practical  pulpit  exegesis,  and  found  ample  scope  for  their 
varied  gifts  and  ability  within  the  range  of  the  doctrines  of  evan- 
gelical religion,  and  did  not  encumber  or  mystify  their  preaching 
with  the  novelties  and  metaphysical  subtleties  of  the  schoolmen. 


176  LIFE   OF   REV.    CHARLES   PITMAN,    D.D. 

What  we  most  Deed  in  these  times  is  evangelical  preaching — 
preaching  the  truths  and  doctrines  of  religion.  Our  fathers 
made  these  great  fundamental  principles  of  Christianity  the 
basis  and  foundation  of  their  ministrations.  They  preached  the 
necessity  of  a  conviction  of  sin  in  order  to  a  genuine  repentance, 
and  that  godly  sorrow  was  a  prerequisite  to  true  repentance, 
and  that  repentance  was  necessary  to  faith.  Repentance  towards 
God,  and  faith  in  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  is  the  great  funda- 
mental doctrine  of  revealed  religion.  They  believed  in  a  sound 
conversion — in  a  repentance  that  led  a  man  to  forsake  his  sins 
and  utterly  and  forever  to  depart  from  all  iniquity — genuine, 
deep,  pungent,  a  thorough,  radical  transformation,  wrought  in 
the  heart  by  the  Holy  Ghost.  They  preached  justification  by 
faith  in  Christ.  This  was  a  favorite  theme  and  doctrine  with 
Wesley,  with  Jabez  Bunting,  with  Dr.  Adam  Clarke,  and  has 
been  with  all  loyal  Methodist  preachers,  from  their  time  to  the 
present.  Every  Methodist  preacher  ought  to  study  well  and  thor- 
oughly Rev.  Jabez  Bunting's  sermon  on  "  Justification  by  Faith," 
it  is  a  body  of  divinity  in  itself,  and  our  fathers  preached  the 
doctrines  of  Adoption,  or  Christian  Heirship,  the  Witness  of 
the  Spirit,  a  doctrine  which  in  a  peculiar  sense  specially  belongs 
to  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  is  incorporated  in  her 
articles  of  faith,  as  being  essential  to  salvation,  and  necessary  to 
a  true  Christian  experience.  We  give  a  sketch  of  Dr.  Pitman's 
sermon  on  justification  by  faith,  and  another  on  a  kindred  sub- 
ject at  the  close  of  this  volume,  to  which  our  reader  is  kindly  re- 
ferred. 

Dr.  Pitman  also  professed  and  preached  the  doctrine'of "  Christian 
Perfection,"  "  Holiness  of  Heart,"  or  "  Entire  Sanctification," 
and,  we  may  say,  with  as  much  force,  energy,  clearness  of  concep- 
tion, and  salutary  and  beneficial  influence  of  its  experience  on  the 
heart  and  life  of  a  true  believer  as  it  has  been,  at  any  subsequent  time, 
since  the  days  of  the  fathers.  The  preachers  of  those  times  be- 
lieved in  "  Holiness  of  Heart "  as  being  both  the  privilege  and 


DR.  PITMAN  AN  ADVOCATE   OF  CHRISTIAN  HOLINESS.    177 

duty  of  the  Church,  and  they  endeavored  to  instil  this  doctrine 
into  the  minds  of  the  people.  It  was  one  of  Dr.  Pitman's 
favorite  themes,  upon  which  he  would  kindle  into  a  glow  of 
ecstatic  delight  and  rapture,  and  shout,  as  seldom  he  did  in 
preaching  from  any  other  subject,  the  praises  of  God. 

We  cannot  better  illustrate  this  part  of  his  ministerial  work 
than  by  inserting  some  extracts  from  one  or  two  of  his  sermon- 
sketches.  In  a  sermon  on  1st  John  i.  9,  he  defines  in  the  second 
proposition,  "  The  nature  of  sanctification  to  be  a  cleansing  from 
all  sin.  Justification,  he  says,  changes  our  relation  to  God,  but 
sanctification  changes  our  nature  and  roots  out  all  our  deprav- 
ity. That  such  a  state  is  attainable  in  this  life  is  evident,  1. 
From  the  import  of  the  name  Jesus,  for,  it  is  said  by  the  in- 
spired evangelist,  '  He  shall  save  his  people  from  their  sins.'  2. 
From  the  object  of  Christ's  mission  into  our  world,  viz. :  'To 
destroy  the  works  of  the  Devil.'  3.  From  the  professed  design 
of  the  gospel  ministry,  viz.  :  *  To  present  believers  perfect  in 
Christ  Jesus.'  4.  From  the  impossibility  of  entering  the  king- 
dom of  heaven  without  it :  '  Without  holiness  no  man  shall  see 
the  Lord.' "  In  his  sermon  on  "  Spiritual  Pathology  "  he  uses 
this  strong  and  corroborative  language: 

"  In  order  to  guard  against  relapses,  and  secure  to  ourselves  a  state  of 
permanent  health  and  vigor,  it  is  essential  that  the  seeds  of  spiritual  dis- 
ease and  death  should  be  extracted,  or  that  our  hearts  be  cleansed  from 
all  sin.  If  we  would  have  the  ground  cleared  of  a  noxious  tree,  it  is  not 
enough  that  we  lop  off  its  branches,  we  must  pluck  up  its  roots.  With- 
out this  the  reasons  for  the  first  operation  will  frequently  recur.  And 
we  think  we  are  divinely  warranted  in  saying  that  here  lies  one  of  the 
most  general  causes  of  spiritual  languor  and  debility,  the  frequent  in- 
stances of  apostacy  and  the  superficial  state  of  religious  experience,  for 
which  the  different  Churches  among  us  are  so  deplorably  remarkable.  I 
will  not  say  it  is  impossible  that  even  he  whose  disease  has  been  radical 
may  not  become  the  subject  of  disease  and  death  again;  but  I  dare 
aftirm  that  the  probability  would  be  much  stronger  where  the  restora- 
tion was  only  partial. 

"  I  am  not  ignorant  that  the  possibility  of  an  entire  eradication  of  the 
12 


178  LIFE  OF   REV.   CHABLES   PITMAN,   D.D. 

most  bitter  roots  of  sinful  depravity  has  been  and  still  is  disputed,  and 
especially  that  this  cannot  take  place  before  the  hour  of  death ;  but  the 
limit  of  this  discourse  and  my  present  disinclination  to  debate  forbid 
my  entering  deeply  into  a  controversy  which  has  already  been  carried 
to  extremes  on  both  sides.  Suffice  it,  therefore,  to  say  that  one  '  Thus 
saith  the  Lord '  is  a  stronger  demonstration  of  the  truth  of  a  proposition 
than  a  hundred  passages  of  Scripture  taken  out  of  their  proper  connec- 
tion or  wrested  from  their  true  meaning,  or  than  all  the  inferences 
drawn  from  distorted  passages  or  such  as  are  of  doubtful  import,  with 
which  heated  controversialists  have  been  accustomed  to  defend  their  fa- 
vorite tenets.  We  are  not  dependent  upon  wrested  passages,  nor  such 
as  are  of  dubious  meaning,  nor  yet  upon  inferences  drawn  from  assumed 
premises,  to  prove  the  necessity  and  possibility  of  being  made  spiritually 
whole.  These  points  are  established  by  Divine  authority  in  most  un- 
equivocal language.  God  wills  it:  'I  will;  be  thou  clean;'  'It  is  the 
will  of  God,  even  your  sanctification'  (1  Thess.  iv.  3).  He  commands 
it:  'Be  ye  holy,  for  I  the  Lord  your  God  am  holy'  (Lev.  xi.  40;  xx.  7); 
'Be  ye  perfect,  even  as  your  Father  which  is  in  heaven  is  perfect' 
(Matt.  v.  48).  He  has  conditionally  promised  it:  'If  we  confess  our 
sins,  he  is  faithful  and  just  to  forgive  us  our  sins  and  to  cleanse  us  from 
all  unrighteousness'  (1  John  i.  9);  'Then  will  I  sprinkle  clean  water 
upon  you,  and  ye  shall  be  clean ;  from  all  your  filthiness  and  from  all 
your  idols  will  I  cleanse  you'  (Ezek.  xxxvi.  25).  He  has  given  us 
many  bright  examples  of  it.  Job  i.  1:  'Job  was  a  perfect  and  upright 
man,  one  that  feared  God  and  eschewed  evil;'  Gen.  vi.  9:  'Noah  was  a 
just  man  and  perfect  in  his  generation,  and  Noah  walked  with  God;'  1 
Cor.  ii.  6:  'Howbeitwe  speak  wisdom  among  them  that  are  perfect;' 
Luke  i.  6:  'And,'  says  the  apostle,  speaking  of  Zacharias  and  his  wife, 
'they  were  both  righteous  before  God,  walking  in  all  the  command- 
ments of  the  Lord  blameless.'  Thus  we  are  led  to  one  of  two  conclu- 
sions,— either  that  God  wills,  commands,  promises  and  exemplifies  that 
which  is  neither  necessary  nor  possible  to  be  enjoyed  or  practiced,  or 
that  an  entire  deliverance  from  the  seeds  and  effects  of  spiritual  disease 
and  death  is  both  essential  and  attainable.  The  latter  sentiment  is  per- 
fectly rational  and  scriptural ;  the  former,  absurd  and  shocking." 

,  Dr.  Pitman  preached  on  the  Advent,  Life,  Character,  Suffer- 
ings, Death,  Resurrection  and  Ascension  of  Christ,  upon  the 
Mediatorship,  Messiahship,  Advocacy  and  Intercession  of  the 
Son  of  God.  He  preached  on  the  Condemnation  of  Sinners, 


THEMES  OF   EVANGELICAL   PREACHING.  179 

the  Future  Punishment  of  the  Finally  Impenitent  and  Incor- 
rigibly Wicked,  and  declared,  upon  the  authority  of  God's 
word,  the  coming  day  of  judgment  and  the  final  and  irretriev- 
able doom,  of  all  ungodly  men.  In  the  scope  and  compass  of 
his  pulpit  ministrations,  he  included  all  the  great,  grand  and 
solemn  truths  of  the  word  of  God,  and  from  the  range  and 
multiplicity  of  the  topics  selected  by  him  and  discoursed  upon 
in  the  various  appointments  he  filled,  it  is  but  a  fair  inference 
that  we  make,  when  we  say  that  no  man  in  his  time  had  a 
greater,  or  possessed  a  more  comprehensive  and  more  capacious 
mind,  and  had  taken  a  wider  range,  and  embraced  a  more  ex- 
panded knowledge  of  divine  truth,  and  presented  to  the  con- 
gregations to  which  he  ministered  a  greater  variety  of  exposition 
of  Christian  doctrine  than  fell,  during  his  ministry,  from  the 
lips  of  Rev.  Dr.  Charles  Pitman. 

Dr.  Pitman  was  set  for  the  defence  of  the  gospel.  He  boldly 
combated  the  heresies  and  erroneous  doctrines  which  were  rife 
in  the  time  of  his  ministry,  and  none  of  these  were  more  so,  than 
the  tenets  promulgated  by  the  Calvinistic  College  of  Theology ; 
and  Calvin's  Institutes  were  quoted  freely  by  these  Calvinistic 
preachers,  as  a  counteracting  doctrine  to  the  principles  of  evan- 
gelical repentance  and  true  faith  in  Christ.  Dr.  Pitman  was 
forced  into  the  arena  of  debate  and  controversy,  and  well  was  he 
fortified  with  the  doctrines  of  evangelical  faith,  to  meet  the  dogmas 
of  Calvinism,  and  on  Scriptural  reasoning,  to  overthrow  them. 
Questions  and  paragraphs  from  Calvin  were  sent  him  to  an- 
swer, of  which  the  following  form  a  part :  "  How  comes  it  to 
pass  that  so  many  nations,  together  with  their  infant  children, 
are  by  the  fall  of  Adam  involved  in  eternal  death,  without 
remedy,  unless  it  is  because  God  would  have  it  so?  A  horrible 
decree,  I  confess,"  says  the  author;  "nevertheless  nobody  can 
deny  that  God  foreknew  what  would  be  man's  end  before  He 
created  him,  and  that  He  foreknew  it  because  He  had  ordered  it 
by  His  decree."  Calvin's  Institutes,  Book  3d,  chapter  23d,  sec.  7. 


180  LIFE   OF   REV.   CHARLES   PITMAN,   D.D. 

And  again :  "  The  reprobates  are  devoted  to  wickedness,  be- 
cause through  the  just  and  unsearchable  judgment  of  God  they 
were  raised  up  to  illustrate  His  glory  by  their  damnation." 
Book  3d,  chap.  24,  sec.  14.  "By  God's  just  and  irreprehensible 
though  incomprehensible  judgment,  the  way  of  life  is  blocked 
up  for  those  whom  He  has  devoted  to  damnation."  Book  3d, 
chapter  23d,  sec.  1.  "Therefore  those  whom  God  passes  by  He 
reprobates  for  no  other  reason  but  this.  He  will  exclude  them 
from  the  inheritance  which  He  predestinates  for  His  sons." 
Ibid. 

These  and  similar  other  kindred  questions  were  flaunted  from 
the  pulpit,  and  quoted  in  defence  of  the  doctrine  of  Calvin,  and 
under  the  influence  of  a  well-settled  and  well-compacted  form  of 
religious  asceticism  and  dogmatical  faith,  founded  in  the  establish- 
ment of  Puritan  worship  in  New  England  from  its  earliest  set- 
tlement, and  promulgated  by  Jonathan  Edwards  and  others,  swept 
not  only  over  all  New  England,  but  found  considerable  foot-hold 
in  the  hearts  of  the  people  of  the  Middle  States,  and  New  Jersey 
received  a  large  share  of  the  influence ;  and  long  before  Method- 
ism had  been  introduced  in  the  State,  Calvinism  was  not  only  rife 
among  the  people,  but  had  a  firm  hold  upon  the  religious  element 
of  its  citizens. 

The  controversy  with  Calvinism  had  been  going  on  for  years, 
and  in  consequence  of  the  overpowering  influence  of  its  well- 
compacted  organizations,  and  the  wealth  and  influence  of  its  ad- 
herents, Methodism  had  been  crowded  to  the  remote  parts  of  the 
sparsely  populated  country,  or  if  it  did  achieve  a  triumph  to  get 
within  a  large  town  or  city,  it  generally  was  crowded  into  some 
"  by-street "  or  out-of-the-way  place,  and  was  exceedingly  cir- 
cumscribed in  its  operations.  The  struggle  had  been  long,  and 
the  odds  were  formidable,  but  faith  and  prayer  were  made  night 
and  day  for  the  success  of  Christ's  cause ;  and  at  this  critical 
juncture  of  our  religious  history  God  in  His  providence  raised  up 
Charles  Pitman  and  his  co-laborers  as  the  men  of  the  times  who 


THE   DOCTRINES   THEY   PROMULGATED.  181 

under  God  were  to  revolutionize  the  religious  sentiment  of  the 
people,  and  open  the  way  for  the  spread  of  a  more  practicable  and 
earnest  Christianity,  a  religion  which  consisted  more  in  the  ex- 
perience of  its  followers,  than  in  the  cold  forms  of  an  unmeaning 
and  doubtful  theology,  and  the  hand  of  God  was  laid  upon 
Charles  Pitman  as  a  captain  and  leader  of  the  Lord's  hosts  in 
this  transition. 

That  our  fathers  made  this  much  a  matter  of  their  preaching 
is  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  first  they  had  to  convince  men 
of  their  errors,  or,  in  other  words,  root  out  all  the  seeds  of  unbe- 
lief, before  they  could  sow  and  expect  the  fruit  of  an  earnest  and 
evangelical  piety  ;  and  this  they  did  in  that  wonderfully  polemic 
age  of  Methodism,  which  was  soon  turned  into  a  glorious  transi- 
tional period.  They  preached  the  doctrines  of  free  grace  and  full 
salvation,  they  exposed  heresy,  they  denounced  dogmas,  they 
combated  every  doctrine  or  precept  that  arrayed  itself  against 
the  plain  declarations  of  the  gospel,  and  proclaimed  salvation  to 
all  men  upon  the  conditions  of  repentance  and  faith,  and  ear- 
nestly opposed  the  Calvinistic  doctrine  of  decrees,  and  the  eternal 
reprobation  of  the  sinner.  They  held  that  all  who  came  to 
Christ  confessing  their  sins  in  sincerity  and  truth,  and  proved 
faithful,  were  elected,  through  the  atoning  mercy  of  God,  to 
eternal  life,  and  that  none  would  be  lost  but  the  impenitent  and 
incorrigibly  wicked  ;  that  salvation  was  not  by  election,  but  by 
faith ;  that  heaven  and  eternal  life  were  not  by  absolute  decree, 
but  as  a  reward  of  filial  obedience  to  the  precepts  and  commands 
of  God,  and  that  hell  never  was  the  portion  and  doom  of  a  soul 
by  eternal  decree  or  reprobation,  but  as  a  consequence  of  the 
sinner's  own  persistency  and  obstinacy  in  his  rebellion  against 
God. 

It  was,  in  this  wide  field  that  God  opened  for  the  display  of 
those  magnificent  and  lofty  powers  of  intellect,  those  rich  and 
tender  tones  of  voice — the  music  of  which  was  a  charm  and 
enchantment  to  thousands — that  great  soul  which  filled  the  body 


182  LIFE  OF  REV.   CHARLES   PITMAN,   D.D. 

of  Mr.  Pitman  and  his  coadjutors,  the  instruments  through  which 
was  conveyed  to  vast  congregations,  gathered  all  over  the  country 
the  life  and  power  of  an  evangelical  faith  proclaimed  by  an 
earnest,  Spirit-baptized,  ministry.  It  won  its  way,  it  accom- 
plished its  work,  and  the  seals  which  God  put  upon  that  min- 
istry and  that  work,  were  His  divine  attestation  to  the  truth  of 
the  doctrine,  and  His  gracious  approval  of  their  work.  These 
fathers  were  raised  up  by  God  for  this  special  work,  in  that 
great  polemic  age  of  doctrinal  discussion — in  that  age  when 
a  theology  founded  upon  erroneous  conclusions,  and  which  had 
inclined  the  ministry  of  those  times  more  to  the  Sinaitic  view  of 
the  law,  than  to  the  Calvary  side  of  the  Gospel,  as  a  message  of 
mercy  to  sinners — and  both  had  strenuous  and  ardent  advo- 
cates— the  controversy  and  public  examination  of  these  ques- 
tions in  matters  of  public  exegesis  may  be  considered  as  the 
settlement  of  this  doctrine,  and  as  vital  to  the  success  of  the 
Church's  organization  among  the  people,  and  of  a  better  under- 
standing of  the  more  gracious  plan  of  God  in  extending  mercy 
to  sinful  men.  And  how  wonderful  has  been  the  change  in  the 
minds  of  devout,  thinking  men  concerning  the  theological  beliefs 
of  those  times,  and  the  present.  Germany  boasting  at  one  time  of 
the  great  doctrines  promulgated  by  Luther  and  her  other  great 
reformers,  has  to  a  very  great  extent  abandoned  this  faith  for 
something  which  they  accept  as  being  more  compatible  with 
their  views  of  Christian  belief.  Protestant  England  has  been 
divided  in  her  religious  sentiments  over  the  teachings  of  Wick- 
liffe  and  other  of  her  great  reformers,  and  still  groans  under 
the  oppressive  burdens  of  a  Church,  connected  with  the  State. 
Geneva,  having  once  prided  herself  of  having  been  (if  not 
the  birth-place,  for  that  honor  belongs  to  France)  the  home 
of  Calvin  and  the  cloister  from  which  emanated  his  doctrines 
and  creed,  and  the  clans  which  received  them,  now,  not  in  any 
of  its  peculiar  but  in  all  of  its  broadest  doctrines,  repudiates 
his  sentiments,  and  in  most  of  her  pulpits  her  pastors  preach 


THE   INFLUENCE  OF  THIS   KIND   OF  PEEACHING.        183 

doctrines  which  his  soul  abhorred,  and  which  her  people  now 
love  so  well.  Scotland  is  divided  over  her  doctrines  and  the 
Catechism,  while  in  her  conflicts  with  popery  and  infidelity,  An- 
tinomianism  and  Socinianism,  her  enemies,  with  their  false 
faith,  have  been  swept  from  their  shores  with  hardly  a  ledge  for 
a  foot-hold  ;  and  even  Whitefield's  teachings  would  not  be  ac- 
ceptable to  many  congregations  in  this  day  and  generation,  and 
thousands  would  turn  away  from  his  ministrations,  or  refuse  to 
accept  his  doctrines,  while  the  great  doctrine  of  evangelical  faith, 
and  of  God's  gracious  plan  of  saving  mercy  to  sinful  men,  in 
the  freeness  and  fulness  of  promise  to  every  lost  son  and  daugh- 
ter of  Adam's  race  is  sweeping  on,  and  over  the  world  in  all  its 
heaven-born  influence  and  power.  It  was  this  great  principle 
of  evangelical  faith  that  Dr.  Pitman  made  the  burden  of  his 
ministry,  and  preached  so  energetically,  earnestly  and  elo- 
quently, that  it  stirred  Philadelphia  and  all  New  Jersey  and 
other  contiguous  states  and  cities,  where  thousands  were  con- 
verted to  God,  and  the  influence  of  whose  ministrations  is  a 
potent  factor  in  the  religious  element  of  their  faith  and  experi- 
ence, throughout  the  bounds  and  borders  of  our  Methodism  in 
this  portion  of  God's  moral  heritage.  Well  may  this  period  be 
termed  the  transitional  period  of  Methodism.  Here  a  great 
moral  reformation  took  place ;  here  were  laid  the  foundations 
of  that  mighty  superstructure  which  is  now  both  our  Church's 
true  glory  and  her  power.  The  spirituality  of  her  people  based 
upon  her  firm  and  immovable  doctrines  of  faith  and  experience, 
is  the  religious  influence  that  is  to  break  the  iron  grasp  of 
sin  and  Satan  from  the  human  heart,  and  infuse  the  principles 
of  light,  love  and  peace  into  the  souls  of  men.  These  great 
truths  and  mighty  principles,  are  at  this  hour  pulsating  the 
heart  of  humanity  and  permeating  every  quarter  of  our  globe, 
and  leading  the  mind  of  man  to  God.  This  is  the  great  moral 
and  spiritual  eflfect,  which,  under  the  influence  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  is  to  regenerate  the  world,  which  under  the  baptismal 


184  LIFE   OF   REV.    CHAELES  PITMAN,    D.D. 

shower  of  the  blood  shed  on  Calvary  is  to  purify  a  corrupt  and 
apostate  race.  Such  a  spirit  stirred  and  moved  the  heart  of  Pit- 
man. Such  a  spirit  made  effective  the  preaching  of  those  men 
whose  greatest  and  true  glory  was  to  lead  sinners  to  Christ,  and 
see  them  gloriously  saved. 

"  He  preached  the  gospel  and  he  preached  the  law, 
He  sometimes  drove,  but  always  loved  to  draw, 
He  bore  his  great  commission  on  his  look, 
And  sweetly  tempered  awe  and  softened  all  he  spoke." 

— DRYDEN. 

Dr.  Pitman,  as  a  dedicator  of  new  churches,  was  the  greatest 
man  of  his  time.  Of  these  occasions,  we  have  spoken  at 
length  in  another  chapter  of  this  work,  and  of  his  eminent  suc- 
cess in  this  department  of  Christian  labor.  Hence,  we  merely 
make  an  allusion  to  it,  to  keep  unbroken  the  thread  of  our  his- 
tory. He  seemed  to  possess  more  of  a  trumpet-heart  spirit  than 
any  other  minister  of  our  connection  at  that  time,  and  not  unfre- 
quently  would  he  march  out  on  those  grand  field  conflicts  with 
the  enemies  of  Christianity  confronting  him,  and  after  a  grand 
round  of  skirmishing,  and  then  a  closing  in  of  his  forces,  he 
would  storm  the  temples  of  Paganism,  assault  the  ramparts  of 
infidelity  and  scale  the  battlements  of  skepticism,  scattering 
wreck  and  ruin,  discomfiture  and  defeat,  carnage  and  death  all 
along  his  triumphant  pathway ;  and  then  coming  from  the 
eagerly-contested  battle-field,  with  his  ensigns  of  victory,  and 
leading  his  triumphant  host,  he  would  lift  his  glad  hosannas  to 
Christ,  as  King  and  Conqueror,  that  another  church  was  reared 
and  consecrated  to  the  worship  of  God,  that  another  fortification 
would  open  fire  upon  the  citadels  of  Satan's  kingdom,  and  an- 
other grand  recruiting-station  was  established  on  earth  to  enlist 
myriads,as  soldiers  of  the  cross.  In  all  these  exercises,  and  on 
all  these  occasions  the  people  anticipated  a  great  feast,  and  so  over- 
whelming was  the  influence  that  Dr.  Pitman  seldom,  if  ever, 
closed  his  labors  at  a  church  dedication  without  accomplishing 


AS  A   PEEACHER.  185 

the  desired  results,  and  his  preaching  and  presence  giving  a 
momentum  to  the  interests  of  our  church. 

Dr.  Pitman  seemed  adapted  to  every  exigency  of  his  time  in 
the  church's  need  and  requirements.  He  was  the  embodiment 
of  nature's  forces,  and  their  illustration  was  made  known  in  his 
activities,  sensibilities  and  clear,  ringing  utterances.  Truth 
came  from  his  lips  with  more  than  ordinary  power,  and  sus- 
tained by  his  heart  convictions,  it  was  made  to  tell  mightily 
upon  human  consciences.  It  struck  terror  and  alarm  into  the 
soul  of  a  skeptic  and  unbeliever,  and  made  them  shudder  and 
quail  before  the  power  of  its  convicting  energy. 

He  could  sway  the  masses  with  his  arguments  and  emotions, 
as  the  grain-fields  gracefully  yield  to  the  resistless  wind,  or  for- 
ests are  bent  and  broken  by  the  tornado.  He  shed  light  with 
the  effulgence  and  profusion  of  a  sun,  and  at  the  same  time 
tempered  its  rays  into  the  soft  and  mellowing  influence  of  moon- 
beams, and  would  cast  a  halo  of  divine  love  into  the  human 
heart  and  bid  it  enjoy  a  peace  which  said,  "  Be  still." 

He  was  a  constituency  of  excellencies,  as  an  instrument  in 
full  and  finished  parts.  Its  keys  and  stops  and  pipes,  touched 
and  filled  by  divine  influence,  making  surprising  and  ecstatic 
music  in  major  and  minor  chords,  awing  to  reverence,  or  inspir- 
ing to  shouts  of  praise,  more  real  and  more  grand  than  the  harp 
of  .rfEolus. 

Such  are  some  of  the  figures  of  speech  which  a  cultured  and 
classic  mind  has  applied  to  him  whose  excellencies  we  have  been 
endeavoring  to  set  forth,  and  yet  the  strongest  and  most  sprightly 
figures  fail  to  exhibit  the  graceful  combination  of  virtues  that 
were  blended  in  the  heart  and  adorned  the  character  and  name 
of  Charles  Pitman,  and  to  know  them  and  the  source  from 
which  they  were  derived  would  be  to  know  the  secret  of  that 
power  he  had  with  God,  and  that  special  unction  which  accom- 
panied his  pulpit  ministrations  with  such  marked  and  visible 
effect. 


CHAPTEE    XIII. 

DB.  PITMAN  AS  A  POET — POSSESSED  A  FINE  POETICAL 
TALENT. 

FROM  the  year  1840  to  1848,  Dr.  Pitman  seemed  to  have  a 
special  enduement  of  the  poetical  spirit.  Consecrated 
prose  is  religion  in  sentiment ;  consecrated  poetry  is  religion  in 
song.  And  though  this  talent  was  often  noticed  in  the  rhyth- 
mical utterances  of  Dr.  Pitman  in  preaching  the  Gospel,  and  in 
the  various  addresses  he  made,  no  specialty  was  made  of  it, 
save  a  few  contributions  to  albums  and  special  friends,  whose 
memory  he  was  wont  to  honor,  until  the  years  1839  and  1840, 
when  he  commenced  writing  poetry  on  religious  and  patriotic 
and  other  moral  and  historical  themes,  and  he  has  left  a  manu- 
script book  which  contains  several  very  beautiful  birthday  and 
other  numerous  and  impressive  poetical  effusions,  some  of  which 
we  select,  and  hope  they  will  both  enrich  the  mind  of  the  reader 
and  make  a  valuable  contribution  to  enhance  the  value  of 
this  volume,  and  better  illustrate  the  special  gift  which  he  so 
pre-eminently  possessed ;  we  place  them  in  connection  with 
some  others  that  have  been  already  interspersed  through  this 
volume. 

Poetry,  like  music,  hath  its  charms,  and  tends  to  soften  the 
human  heart,  quicken  the  sensibilities,  humanize  the  affections 
and  call  forth  compassion  and  tenderness.  It  is  a  rare  gift,  a 
special  endowment,  and  judging  from  these  specimens  which  Dr. 
Pitman  has  left  us,  and  their  systematic  connection  into  Iambic, 
Trochaic,  Anapestic  and  Dactylic  feet,  or  poetic  measure,  indi- 
cates his  superior  and  masterly  power  to  marshal  into  beautiful 
harmony  and  correct  taste,  some  of  the  most  exquisite  and  im- 
186 


POETICAL  ADDRESS  TO  THE  DEPARTING  MISSIONARY.     187 

pressive  thoughts  of  his  highly-cultured  and  richly-stored  intel- 
lect, and  if  read  with  proper  emphasis  and  with  regard  to  their 
elocutionary  construction,  cannot  fail  to  impress  the  reader  with 
their  beauty  and  significance. 

THE  FAREWELL  TO  THE  DEPARTING  MISSIONARY  TO 
HIS  DISTANT  FIELD  OF  LABOR. 

"  To  brethren  dear  and  pleasant,  a  sad  and  long  adieu  ; 
The  past  will  still  be  present  whene'er  we  think  of  you ; 
With  hearts  surcharg'd  with  sorrow,  we  silent  gaze  and  weep, 
To  think  before  the  morrow  you'll  plough  the  mighty  deep. 

"  But  though  we  fondly  linger,  around  your  floating  home, 
We  may  not,  would  not  hinder,  though  far  from  us  you  roam ; 
Along  the  distance  fearful  we  look  with  anxious  eye, 
And  though  our  eyes  are  tearful,  suppress  the  rising  sigh. 

"  Go  forth,  ye  flaming  heralds,  salvation  loud  proclaim, 
Fear  not  the  ocean's  perils,  trust  in  His  mighty  name, 
Who  calms  the  mighty  ocean  when  threatening  billows  roll, 
And  'mid  the  wild  commotion  can  calm  the  troubled  soul. 

"  Go  wake  the  guilty  sleepers,  ye  chosen  sons  of  light ; 
Go  forth,  ye  Gospel  reapers,  the  harvest-field  is  white ; 
Exposed  to  winds  and  weather  the  waving  harvest  stands, 
O  haste  away  and  gather,  the  field  your  toil  demands. 

"  From  o'er  the  Rocky  Mountains,  the  plaintive  cry  is  peal'd, 
Come  ope  to  us  the  fountain  which  living  waters  yield ; 
O  leave  us  not  to  perish  without  a  pastor's  care, 
Without  a  hope  to  cherish,  the  pris'ners  of  despair  ! 

"  Where  rolls  the  wide  Pacific  ;  in  forests  dense  and  wide, 
Mid  savage  yells  terrific,  where  mercy  never  smil'd, 
There  sound  the  great  salvation,  its  bloody  banner  wave, 
There  make  the  proclamation,  that  Jesus  came  to  save. 

"  The  savage  foe  shall  cower  before  your  two-edg'd  blade, 
And  slain  by  mercy's  power,  his  hopes  in  dust  be  laid  ; 
Now  shorn  of  all  his  glory,  in  dust  he  hides  his  face, 
The  burden  of  his  story,  '  a  sinner  saved  by  grace.' 


188  LIFE  OF   REV.   CHARLES   PITMAN,   D.D. 

"  Along  Willamette's  valley,  and  proud  Columbia's  streams, 
Where  sons  of  freedom  rally,  and  star  of  science  beams, 
There  pour  the  light  of  heaven,  the  light  of  Bethlehem's  Star, 
Diffuse  the  gospel  leaven  through  all  the  land  afar. 

"  Arm'd  with  Divine  Credentials,  your  high  commission  scan, 
Declare  the  great  essentials,  of  the  redeeming  plan ; 
And  Oregon  shall  flourish,  beneath  the  Saviour's  smile, 
The  seeds  you  sow  He'll  nourish,  reward  the  tiller's  toil. 

"  In  all  your  fruitful  valleys  and  sterile  mountain  plains, 
A  num'rous  host  of  allies  shall  shout  Jehovah  reigns, 
And  bright  angelic  legions,  shall  catch  the  joyful  lays; 
And  in  their  blissful  regions,  peal  forth  Messiah's  praise. 

"  New  York,  December  21, 1846."  "  C.  PITMAN. 


ISRAEL  IN  EGYPTIAN  BONDAGE." 

"  Israel  was  gathered  home, 

And  Joseph  too  had  died, 
That  generation  gone, — 

Another  was  supplied. 
And  still  they  multiplied  and  grew, 
A  num'rous  host,  and  mighty,  too. 

"  Another  king  arose ; 

Joseph  to  him  unknown, 
Strong  fears  did  he  disclose, 

And  tremble  for  his  throne  : 
For  should  his  enemies  assail, 
By  Hebrew  force  they  might  prevail. 

"  To  check  the  rising  power, 

Of  this  suspected  race, 
He  made  their  spirits  cower 

'Neath  bondage  and  disgrace. 
Their  lives  embitter5 d,  soul  subdu'd, 
They  groan'd  beneath  their  servitude. 


ISRAEL   IN   BONDAGE.  189 

"  Afflicted  and  distress'd, 

Each  stroke  their  strength  defied, 
The  more  they  were  oppressed, 

The  more  they  multiplied : 
Their  rapid  growth  all  Egypt  griev'd, 
And  much  they  wished  to  be  reliev'd. 

"  Then  came  the  king's  command, 

Each  infant  male  to  slay, 
But,  Oh !  a  mighty  hand ! 

The  murd'rous  stroke  did  stay  : 
The  Hebrew  midwives  fear'd  the  Lord, 
And  He  sustain'd  them  by  His  word. 

"  And  Israel,  too,  He  blessed, 

And  made  them  fruitful  still ; 
Though  cruelly  oppress'd, 

Their  houses  He  did  fill 
With  children ;  Abram's  promis'd  seed, 
Destined  from  bondage  to  be  freed. 

"  Little  did  Pharaoh  think 

In  his  mad  policy, 
Of  Him  who  cannot  wink 

At  heartless  cruelty. 
Each  infant  male  must  now  be  found, 
And  then  by  royal  edict  drowned. 

"Yes,  every  infant  male, 

Must  die  a  cruel  death, 
Nor  mother's  tears  prevail, 

To  spare  that  infant  breath: 
For  He  of  Hebrew  mother  born, 
Must  from  that  mother's  heart  be  torn. 

"  I  hear  the  voice  of  woe, 

'Tis  Hebrew  mothers'  wail  ; 
That  strong,  convulsive  throe 

Beveals  the  sad'ning  tale : 
Maternal  hearts  by  anguish  torn, 
Sigh  for  their  babes  to  Nilus  borne. 


190  LIFE  OP  REV.   CHAELES  PITMAN,   D.D. 

"  O  thou  mysterious  Power, 

Where  is  thy  mighty  hand, 
Which,  when  the  clouds  did  lower, 

Sav'd  Israel  from  all  harm  ? 
Oh  1  why,  by  Joseph's  anxious  care, 
Did'st  thou  this  people  hither  bear? 

"  Their  sires  were  strangely  led, 

When  famine  sorely  rag'd, 
To  Egypt  to  be  fed, 

And  have  their  woes  assuag'd. 
Are  they  not  still  thy  chosen  flock  ? 
Art  thou  not  still  their  boasted  Rock  ? 
• 

"  And  must  they  perish  now 

By  Pharaoh's  cruel  power? 
God  of  the  Patriarchs !  Thou 

Canst  save  in  this  dread  hour. 
Their  sun  obscur'd,  and  dark  their  sky, 
Surely  deliverance  is  nigh. 

"  O  God  of  Abram !  deign 

To  show  a  smiling  face, 
And  by  thy  power  sustain 

This  hapless,  suffering  race. 
For  who  can  harm,  if  heav'n  protect? 
And  Jacob  is  thine  own  elect. 

"C.  PITMAN. 
"  Trenton,  N.  J.,  March  8th,  1841." 


THE  PRESERVATION  OF  MOSES. 

"  A  little  ark  doth  float 

Quite  near  the  river's  brink, 
A  little  basket-boat. 

Will  it  not  fill  and  sink? 
It  seems  a  vessel  far  too  frail 
In  safety  on  the  floods  to  sail. 


PRESERVATION  OF   MOSES.  191 

"  Ingeniously  plann'd 

And  carefully  secured, 
By  infancy  it's  mann'd, 

By  Providence  insured. 
A  precious  treasure  lies  concealed, 
Its  worth  in  time  to  be  reveal' d. 

"  A  mother's  love  prepared 

This  floating  cradle-bed ; 
With  trembling  hope  she  dar*d 

That  beauteous  infant  head 
To  sink  upon  the  angry  Nile, 
Exposed  to  Egypt's  crocodile. 

"  But  see  yon  lovely  child  I 

In  fix'd  and  steady  gaze, 
With  features  soft  and  mild, 

She  stands  and  weeps  and  prays. 
She  stands  to  watch  that  trembling  bark : 
Her  brother's  in  that  floating  ark. 

"  Just  at  this  crisis  stood 

The  daughter  of  the  king, 
And  looking  on  the  flood, 

She  saw  that  floating  thing. 
One  of  her  maids,  at  her  command, 
Brought  the  strange  object  safe  to  land. 

"  On  opening  it  she  saw 

A  lovely  infant  lie ; 
Its  charms  did  sweetly  draw 

Her  heart  of  sympathy. 
He  wakes !  for  he  had  sweetly  slept  ; 
The  Princess  smil'd,  'the  infant  wept! ' 

"  In  bending  form  she  stands 

To  view  that  angel  face, 
To  clasp  his  little  hands, 

And  all  his  features  trace : 
The  babe  did  weep,  for  no  supply 
From  nature's  fountains  now  were  nigh. 


192  LIFE   OF   REV.    CHARLES   PITMAN,    D.D. 

"  Did  ever  innocence 

Or  infant  beauty  plead 
With  such  sweet  eloquence 

As  doth  this  child  of  need? 
And  if  a  stranger1  s  heart  doth  melt, 
How  deep  the  pangs  that  mother  felt 

"  When,  trembling,  she  essay'd 
To  build  this  cradle  boat, 

And  place  her  sleeping  babe 
Within  this  ark  to  float, 

What  terror  tore  her  riven  heart! 

How  deep  the  wound!  severe  the  smart!" 

Thus  spake  the  princess  mild, 
And  rais'd  her  bending  form 

But  could  not  leave  the  child 

Forsaken  and  forlorn. 
"  I'll  seek,"  she  said,  "  a  faithful  nurse, 

And  save  him  from  my  father's  curse." 

She  took  the  helpless  babe, 
And  clasp'd  him  to  her  breast; 

"And  from  this  hour,"  she  said, 
"This  Hebrew  child  is  blest; 

I've  snatch'd  him  from  the  swelling  tide, 

And  for  his  wants  I  will  provide." 

A  girl  of  sprightly  mien 
Quite  unobserv'd  had  stood, 

And  this  affecting  scene 
With  deepest  interest  view'd ; 

'Twas  Miriam  I  time's  honored  name ! 

Sister  to  men  of  quenchless  fame ! 

The  princess  she  address'd 
In  accents  soft  and  mild : 
"  I'll  seek  at  thy  request 

A  nurse  for  this  sweet  child." 
"Go  quickly,  then,"  the  princess  cried, 
"  And  let  his  cravings  be  supplied." 


PRESERVATION   OF   MOSES.  193 

A  Hebrew  mother  came; 

Her  soul  was  in  her  eyes. 
"Tis  he,"  she  said,  "the  same," 

And  seiz'd  the  beauteous  prize ; 
With  joy  too  great  to  be  express'd, 
She  clasp'd  him  to  her  throbbing  breast. 

"  Take  thou  this  lovely  one," 
The  generous  princess  said, 
"  And  bear  him  to  thy  home ; 

Thy  care  shall  be  repaid. 
Take  him  as  my  adopted  son ; 
Nurse  him  as  though  he  were  thy  own." 

Lest  transports  should  betray 

A  soul  o'erfraught  with  joy. 
The  mother  hastes  away 

With  her  recovered  boy : 
With  grateful  heart  in  humble  lays 
She  utters  forth  Jehovah's  praise. 

"  Thou  great  mysterious  One  I 

Ancient  of  endless  days ! 
Thou  sittest  on  thy  throne ; 

Unsearchable  thy  ways : 
Inscrutable,  yet  just  and  wise ; 
The  soul  that  trusts,  all  hell  defies." 

• 

"Too  wise"  and  strong  "to  err," 

"Too  good  to  be  unkind," 
He'll  helping  grace  confer 

On  those  his  rod's  refin'd : 
Infernal  policy  he  sways ; 
His  Name  "  the  wrath  of  man  shall  praise." 

Trenton,  March  12th,  1841.  C.  PlTMAN. 


13 


194  LIFE   OF   REV.    CHARLES   PITMAN,   D.D. 

"THE  EDUCATION  OF  MOSES." 

"The  princess,  by  unerring  Wisdom  led, 

Most  nobly  braved  her  father's  stern  decree  ; 
She  snatched  in  pity  from  his  wat'ry  bed 

That  periled  infant.     Filled  with  sympathy, 
As  kind  as  tender,  a  liberality 

Of  soul  well  suited  to  her  means,  she  sought 
For  him  a  nurse.    She  said  to  Miriam,  flee  ! 

And  soon  the  girl  a  hapless  mother  brought ; 

That  mother  clasped  the  child,  with  joy  o'er-fraught. 

"  Ah,  yes  I  none  but  a  mother  knows  such  joy  , 

It  sought  for  utt'rance,  but  was  quick  suppressed, 
The  babe  she  clasp'd  was  her  own  darling  boy  ! 

Was  ever  mother  so  divinely  blest  ? 
O'erwhelmed  with  grief,  with  boding  fears  distressed, 

Her  soul  had  quailed  beneath  affliction's  rod ; 
And  as  her  infant  clung  to  her  fond  breast, 

She  felt  that  though  a  thorny  path  she'd  trod, 

In  all  her  future  ills  she'd  firmly  trust  in  God. 

"  But  still  for  him  dread  apprehensions  rise 

Within  that  mother's  breast.    Should  he  embrace 
The  baneful  faith  of  Egypt !  and  despise 

Jehovah's  laws!  reject  His  Sovereign  grace  ! 
This  son  of  Amram,  born  of  Hebrew  race  ; 

Should  he  the  brutish  gods  of  Egypt  own, 
Refuse  his  noble  lineage  to  trace, 

Amid  the  dazzling  splendors  of  a  throne, 

'Twould  writhe  her  anguished  heart  with  grief  she  ne'er  had  known. 

"  And  now  'twas  hers  to  watch  with  tender  care 

The  early  buddings  of  that  infant  mind ; 
To  train  his  heart  to  holy,  fervent  prayer ; 

How  grateful  is  the  task  to  her  assigned ; 
She  seeks  temptation's  avenues  to  find, 

And  guard  them  by  Jehovah's  powerful  word  • 
Truth's  purest  precepts  on  his  heart  to  bind, 

That  when  to  courtly  honors  he's  transferred 

His  Hebrew  faith  to  idol  gods  may  be  preferred. 


EDUCATION   OF   MOSES.  195 

."  By  holy  counsels,  admonitions,  tears, 

A  sacred  rampart  round  her  boy  she  throws, 
Intended  to  preserve  his  following  years 

From  splendid  vice ;  and  though  temptations  new 
And  strong  might  him  beset,  his  soul  pursue, 

Yet  warm  his  bosom  with  devotion's  flame, 
Armed  with  the  shield  of  faith  and  courage  true, 

He  could  but  conquer  through  Jehovah's  name, 

And  Israel's  mighty  hosts  the  conquest  would  proclaim. 

"  Time  rolled  away ;  and  grew  that  lovely  boy, 

Sheltered  and  guarded  by  parental  care, 
His  genius  bright  they  marked  with  heartfelt  joy, 

His  infant  heart  they  early  trained  to  prayer; 
But  time,  with  rapid  wing  as  fleet  as  air, 

Proclaimed  the  dreaded  hour ;  too  soon  it  came — 
The  hour  that  anxious  mother  must  repair, 

She  and  her  cherished  boy,  to  yield  her  claim ; 

The  princess  called  him  son,  and  Moses  was  his  name. 

"  And  now,  by  royal  patronage  sustained, 

His  mind,  expanding,  grasps  at  Egypt's  lore — 
Her  wondrous  arts  and  science  once  obtained, 

How  rich  will  be  his  intellectual  store  I 
Science  Divine  he  had  been  taught  before ; 

This  moral  culjture  to  his  mind  gave  tone] 
And  strength,  the  field  of  science  to  explore ; 

And  all  the  mental  wealth  to  Egypt  known, 

'Twas  his  to  seize,  appropriate  and  call  his  own. 

u  Trained  as  the  future  heir  of  Pharaoh's  throne, 

With  giant  mind  possess'd,  and  well  matur'd, 
Hope's  sweetest,  highest  visions  round  him  shone, 

And  told  of  joys  his  merit  had  insur'd  ; 
But  brightest  prospects  soonest  are  obscur'd, 

As  sweetest  flowers  soonest  fade  away ; 
The  pleasures  by  which  youth  is  most  allur'd, 

Though  fondly  cherished  yet  they  will  not  stay, 

They  raise  our  buoyant  hopes,  then  wither  and  decay. 


196  LIFE   OF  REV.   CHARLES   PITMAN,   D.D. 

"  Little,  indeed,  that  noble  princess  thought 

That  she  the  unconscious  instrument  would  be 
In  cherishing  the  helpless  babe  she  sought, 

Regardless  of  her  father's  stern  decree, 
Of  Israel's  deliverance.    She  could  not  foresee 

That  he  would  shake  the  throne  of  Egypt's  base — 
That  on  the  further  shore  of  the  Bed  Sea 

He'd  stand  and  witness  Egypt's  deep  disgrace, 

And  join  in  Miriam's  song  of  Israel's  victory. 

"  Yet  so  it  was  !  how  short  is  human  ken ; 

How  deep  the  ways  of  God  !  and  yet  how  just ! 
The  princess  sought  to  honor  him  with  men  ! 

His  Hebrew  mother  taught  him  God  to  trust ! 
One  nursed  the  pride  at  which  the  other  thrust, 

But  wisdom's  voice,  in  lowly  whispers  sweet, 
Taught  him  to  trust  in  God — himself  distrust — 

And  thus  for  noble  daring  rendered  meet 

To  cast  his  worldly  honors  at  his  sovereign  feet." 

C.  PITMAN. 
Trenton,  March  5, 1841. 


"  THE  CHOICE  OF  MOSES." 

"  And  now  the  strangely  rescued  boy  had  grown 
To  manhood's  full  maturity.     That  fostering  care 

Which  blessed  his  youth  prepared  him  for  a  throne ; 
In  Egypt's  wisdom  skilled,  how  bright  and  fair 

His  future  prospects  I    And  oft  did  he  declare 
Attachments  strong  to  her,  the  princess  kind, 

Whose  generous  bounty  placed  and  kept  him  where, 
In  anxious  search  for  wisdom,  he  might  find 
That  intellectual  bliss  which  beautifies  the  mind. 

"  His  early  history  is  left  untold, 

Except  what  fabulous  traditions  tell, 
And  these  are  only  speculations  bold — 
False  records  they !  from  which  we  cannot  spell 


CHOICE  OF   MOSES.  197 

Those  great  events  which  caused  him  to  excel, 
And  gave  his  mind  direction.     For  the  great 

Unsearchable  saw,  doubtless,  'twould  be  well 
To  hide  his  'mighty  deeds,'  nor  would  he  state 
Those  noble  acts  which  gave  his  character  its  weight. 

"  But  one  thing  on  the  sacred  record  stands, 

Which  to  his  everlasting  honor's  penned — 
I  mean  his  noble  choice — a  choice  which  brands 

The  sons  of  earth  with  folly.     Had  he  a  friend 
To  whom  he  owed  his  all  ?     Did  she  intend 

To  lavish  on  him  Egypt's  wealth  and  fame 
And  courtly  pleasures  ?    How  could  he  offend 

That  foster  mother,  when  his  very  name 

Must  tell  her  kindness,  and  her  tender  love  proclaim. 

"  Such  were  his  obligations  deep  and  strong, 

The  royal  favors  he  could  ne'er  repay  ; 
And  such  the  snares  which  to  a  court  belong 

That  faith  alone  could  draw  his  heart  away 
From  such  enticements.     By  this  he  stay'd, 

His  soul  on  God.     And  'twas  by  this  alone 
He  triumphed,  though  earthly  visions  gaily  play'd 

Around  him,  visions  of  heaven  brighter  shone, 

And  threw  their  shade  o'er  joys  he  now  refused  to  own. 

"  Thus  faith  preserved  him  ;  he  believed  in  God, 

And  fixed  his  eye  on  things  of  sense  concealed; 
He  chose  the  path  his  Hebrew  fathers  trod, 

And  look'd  for  joys  to  faith  alone  reveal'd. 
The  Lord  Jehovah  was  his  sun  and  shield  ; 

What  then  to  him  were  rank,  distinction,  fame, 
Or  e'en  the  sceptre  earthly  monarchs  wield  ? 

For  he  a  higher,  nobler  rank  could  claim — 

An  heir  I  a  son  of  God  I  that  Spirit-written  name. 

"  Why  should  he  claim  the  pedigree  of  kings, 

With  noble  ancestry  to  be  allied  ? 
Faith  taught  him  all  such  vain  and  earth-born  things, 
Lur'd  but  to  dissipate  and  foster  pride, 


198  LIFE   OF   REV.    CHARLES   PITMAN,   D.D. 

That  all  true  greatness  must  be  viewed  aside 
From  high  descent,  that  goodness  from  its  base, 

Where  living  virtues  in  the  heart  abide, 
A  higher,  nobler  lineage  we  trace — 
Ah  I  yes;  a  birth  Divine!  what  could  supply  its  place? 

"  He  saw  his  brethren  grievously  oppress' d, 

Groaning  beneath  a  cruel  tyrant's  rod, 
Burdened  with  toil,  and  in  their  woes  distress' d, 

They  quail'd  beneath  the  guilty  tyrant's  rod ; 
Oppression's  dreary  road  they  long  had  trod, 

'Twixt  trembling  hope  and  torturing  despair, 
And  oft  their  anguish'd  hearts  they  rais'd  to  God, 

With  heaving  sighs  and  agonizing  prayer, 
Yet  still  were  doom'd  to  groan,  their  cruel  burdens  bear. 

"  Emotions  tender  struggled  in  his  breast, 

And  strong,  fraternal  feelings  moved  his  heart ; 

If  possible  to  mitigate  their  smart, 
And  soothe  their  woes— 0  could  he  but  impart 

Some  succor.    But,  ah !  while  he  upon 

Their  burdens  look'd,  I  see  him  frown  and  start 

With  indignation  !    A  cruel  act  was  done ! 

A  trembling  slave  was  struck  by  Egypt's  base-born  son. 

"  Amazed  he  look'd  upon  this  deed  of  wrong, 

And  all  his  soul  was  in  that  eye  of  flame ; 
The  victim  was  an  Hebrew,  and  though  long 

A  slave,  accustom'd  to  submission  tame, 
Was  still  a  brother,  and  that  very  name 

Arous'd  his  feelings,  and  his  passions  wrought 
Almost  to  frenzy.    Then,  with  deadly  aim, 

He  rush'd  upon  his  victim,  and  as  quick  as  thought 

He  slew  him — rash  deed  I  but  to  be  aveng'd  he  sought." 

"  Trenton,  N.  J.,  March  20th,  1841."  C.  PITMAN. 

These  selections  are  a  few  of  the  specimens  of  Dr.  Pitman's 
rich  poetic  productions.  What  could  be  more  appropriate  than 
the  happy  combination  that  blends  the  thoughts  in  beautiful  and 
appropriate  verse,  "  The  Farewell  to  the  Departing  Missionary 


CHAEACTER  OF  MR.    PITMAN'S   POETRY.  199 

as  he  goes  to  his  Distant  Field  of  Labor."  It  abounds  with 
well-chosen  expressions  of  his  great  brotherly  heart,  and  of  the 
deep  emotion  he  felt  as  he  accompanied  the  ambassador  for 
Christ  down  to  the  ship,  by  which  he  was  to  be  carried  far  away 
from  his  native  land  into  exile  and  among  a  wild,  uncultivated, 
untutored  and  heathenish  race,  and  it  breathes  a  spirit  of  true 
devotion,  as  well  as  lofty  and  high-born  heroism,  for  the  cause 
of  his  Divine  Master,  and  none  can  read  the  production  without 
being  stirred  by  its  noble  sentiments,  its  deep  pathos  and  genu- 
ine Christian  sympathy  and  fraternal  spirit. 

"  Israel  in  Egyptian  Bondage,"  "  The  Preservation  of  Moses," 
"  The  Education  of  Moses"  and  "  The  Choice  of  Moses  "  abound 
in  valuable  historic  and  religious  truth,  and  illustrate  the  won- 
derful providence  that  surrounded  the  infant  Moses  under  the 
cruel  edict  of  Pharaoh,  the  purposes  of  God  in  his  preservation 
and  the  full  proof  which  Moses  gave  in  his  after  life,  that  the 
hand  of  God  was  over  it  all.  No  hero  of  the  Old  Testament 
history  stands  out  so  conspicuous  as  Moses,  the  son  of  Amram, 
and  to  none  has  been  given  the  high  position,  which  he  occupied 
as  the  law-giver  and  leader  of  Israel  out  from  the  bondage  of 
the  Egyptians.  Had  Dr.  Pitman  lived  in  a  later  age,  and  ac- 
complished but  a  meagre  part  of  his  renown,  he  would  have 
been  elevated  to  the  highest  seat  in  church  authority  and  titled 
with  distinguished  name  and  office. 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

DR.   PITMAN   AS   A   PULPIT  ORATOR. 

ORATORY  has  been  defined  by  Aristotle  as  "  the  power  of 
saying  on  every  subject,  whatever  can  be  found  to  persuade." 
By  Theodorus,  as  "  the  power  of  discerning,  and  expressing  with 
elegance,  whatever  is  creditable  on  any  namable  subject,"  and 
Cicero  describes  an  orator  as  "  one  who  can  use  words,  agree- 
able to  hear,  and  thoughts  adapted  to  prove."  Oratory  has 
been  divided  by  one  of  the  celebrated  schoolmen  into  "  inven- 
tion," "  arrangement,"  "  expression,"  "  memory,"  and  "  delivery 
or  action,"  and  the  same  author  defines  oratory  as  "  the  power  of 
persuading,  and  the  science  of  speaking  well,"  and  another  cele- 
brated author  defines  it  "  as  the  power  of  persuading  by  speak- 
ing." 

Eloquence  is  defined  "  as  the  art  of  speaking  in  such  a  manner 
as  to  attain  the  end  for  which  we  speak."  And  Fenelon  says, 
"  he  thinks  the  whole  art  of  oratory  may  be  reduced  to  proving, 
painting  and  raising  the  passions,"  and  "  the  whole  art  of  elo- 
quence may  consist  in  enforcing  the  clearest  proofs  of  any  truth, 
with  such  powerful  motives  as  may  affect  the  hearers  and  em- 
ploy their  passions  to  just  and  worthy  ends ;  to  raise  their 
indignation  at  ingratitude,  their  horror  against  cruelty,  their 
compassion  for  the  miserable,  their  love  of  virtue,  and  to  direct 
every  other  passion  to  its  proper  object."  And  Webster,  our 
standard  lexicographer,  defines  eloquence  as  "  the  expression  or 
utterance  of  a  strong  emotion,  in  a  manner  adapted  to  excite 
corresponding  emotions  in  others.  It  ordinarily  implies  elevated 
and  forcible  thought,  well-chosen  language,  an  easy  and  effective 
utterance,  and  an  impassioned  manner,''  and  he  defines  oratory 
200 


ORATORY  AND   ELOQUENCE   DEFINED.  201 

as  "  the  art  of  an  orator,  the  art  of  public  speaking  in  an  elo- 
quent or  effective  manner,  the  exercise  of  rhetorical  skill  in  oral 
discourse."  Hence,  "  Oratory  as  an  art,  is  such  an  exercise  of 
rhetorical  skill  in  oral  discourse  as  is  imposing  and  expressive." 
A  classification  and  systematic  arrangement  of  the  rules  of 
oratorical  art,  constitute  the  science  of  oratory,  and  oratory  may 
therefore  be  considered  "as  the  art  and  science  of  producing 
strong  impressions  by  means  of  oral  speech,"  "  while  eloquence 
as  a  science,  is  the  theory,  or  the  process  of  so  expressing 
thought  as  to  persuade."  "  Eloquence  is,  therefore,  the  art  and 
science  of  persuasion.  Eloquence,  strictly  speaking,  generates 
volition.  Oratory  generates  conviction,"  "  and  sacred  or  pulpit 
eloquence  is  the  art  and  science  of  persuading  men,"  by  means 
of  a  sermon,  or  exhortation,  or  address,  to  become  Christians  in 
heart  and  work.  "  Sacred  or  pulpit  oratory  is,  therefore,  the  art 
and  science  of  employing  sacred  or  pulpit  eloquence  orally, 
skillfully  and  impressively." 

To  be  an  orator  for  God,  to  declare  God's  truths  correctly, 
impressively  and  eloquently,  is  the  duty  of  every  man  who 
takes  upon  him  the  office  of  a  teacher  of  God's  holy  Word  to 
men.  Apollos  was  eloquent  and  mighty  in  word  and  utterance, 
"a  wordy  man,"  in  preaching  the  gospel  of  Christ.  The  apos- 
tles were  eloquent  men,  if  not  in  the  strict  sense,  in  which  the 
schoolmen  would  interpret  this  subject,  it  is  enough  to  say  of 
them  that  they  knew  how  to  persuade  men  to  become  reconciled 
to  God.  To  Dr.  Charles  Pitman  may  be  accorded  the  honor  of 
being  an  Apollos  in  Scriptural  exegesis.  An  orator  for  God  in 
proclaiming  His  truth,  and  an  eloquent  minister  of  Christ,  for 
his  whole-souled  earnestness  and  lofty  conception  of  the  pure 
and  good,  the  exalted  and  beneficial  tendency  of  true  Christian 
life ;  for  on  his  face  truth  seemed  to  come  up  in  forms  of  un- 
wonted beauty  and  majesty,  while  his  own  deep  emotion  met  a 
full  response  from  the  hearts  of  his  hearers,  and  sent  a  wave  of 
holy  rapture  over  his  audiences. 


202  LIFE  OF  REV.   CHARLES  PITMAN,   D.D. 

"  Legate  of  the  skies,  his  theme 
Divine  !  his  office  sacred, 
His  credentials  clear.     By  him 
The  violated  law  spoke  forth  its 
Thunders,  and  by  him  in  strains  as 
Soft  as  those  which  angels  use, 
The  Gospel  whispered  peace." — COWPER. 

Let  the  reader  call  to  mind  the  wonderful  effect  alluded  to  in 
another  part  of  this  book,  produced  upon  the  people  in  Cape 
May  County,  N.  J.,  when  he  preached  against  "  Formalism  "  in 
the  church,  and  the  need  of  an  experimental  knowledge  of  the 
saving  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  the  soul  in  order  that 
a  man  might  be  saved,  that  so  stirred  that  people  and  moved 
them  to  a  more  earnest  consecration  of  heart  to  God  and  His 
service ;  it  was  when  the  Holy  Spirit  baptized  his  heart,  and  his 
tongue  became  a  "tongue  of  fire"  to  utter  burning  words  of 
warning  and  expostulation  to  those  who  had  a  name  to  live  and 
were  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins. 

Witness  the  wonderful  power  that  attended  his  ministry  in 
the  several  Circuits  and  Stations  he  occupied  in  various  parts  of 
New  Jersey  and  Philadelphia,  and  of  the  uncounted  multitude 
that  were  brought  to  Christ  under  that  ministry.  What  but  a 
sacred  awe-inspiring  eloquence  which  attended  his  ministrations 
could  have  produced  such  an  effect ;  "  knowing,  therefore,  the 
terrors  of  the  Lord  he  persuaded  men  "  to  turn  from  the  error 
of  their  ways,  and  accept  the  proffered  mercy  of  God  in  the 
salvation  of  their  souls.  And  why  was  it  that  his  preaching  ap- 
pointments were  so  often  crowded  by  the  masses  that  it  was  dif- 
ficult, at  times,  to  find  even  standing  room  in  the  churches 
where  he  ministered  the  word  of  life  ?  The  only  response  that 
can  be  given  to  these  interrogatives  is,  that  Charles  Pitman's 
soul  was  in  his  calling  and  work,  and  being  exclusively  set  apart 
to  the  great  and  important  work  of  the  Christian  ministry,  he 
did  not  entangle  himself  with  the  affairs  of  this  life,  but  with 


EFFECT  PRODUCED  UPON  THE  CONGREGATION.    203 

the  divine  anointing  and  unction  of  the  Holy  One,  he  preached 
Christ  to  the  people  with  an  earnestness,  and  power,  and  effect, 
and  saw  results  that  few  men  have  had  the  honor  of  witnessing 
in  their  ministry. 

Witness  again  the  effect  produced  at  a  camp-meeting  in  the 
State  o£  Delaware,  while  he  was  the  travelling  agent  of  Dickin- 
son College,  and  of  a  similar  circumstance  subsequently,  when 
attending  a  camp-meeting  near  Bellville,  N.  J.,  where  in  both 
instances  he  was  engaged  to  preach  ;  but  when  the  hour  of  ser- 
vice came,  the  heavens  grew  black  and  muffled  up  the  sun,  the 
clouds  heavy  with  their  portents  of  an  overwhelming  flood,  the 
distant  thunder  becoming  more  perceptible  by  its  loud,  long, 
booming  roll  through  the  heavens,  indicating  the  near  approach 
of  the  coming  tempest,  and  the  sharp,  vivid  and  terrifying  light- 
nings scattering  their  forky  flames  across  mid-heaven  like  living 
rivulets  of  fire, — a  convulsed,  agitated,  alarmed,  terrified  and  tem- 
pest-stricken congregation,  alternating  between  hope  and  fear,  and 
hardly  knowing  what  to  do, — whether  to  seek  shelter  before  the 
storm  was  upon  them,  or  await  its  near  approach  as  the  signal 
for  their  retreat,  and  the  will  and  order  of  Providence ;  or  that 
the  storm  and  rain  would  be  of  greater  benefit  to  the  people  than 
the  gospel-message  to  be  preached  by  His  servant.  But  where 
is  the  Orator  for  God,  "  The  Legate  of  the  Skies  "  ?  The  ser- 
vant of  the  Lord  Jesus,  under  these  solemn  and  portentous 
scenes,  animated  and  quickened  by  an  implicit  and  exalted  faith 
in  God, — he  prays ;  he  commits  the  matter  into  the  hands  of  the 
Omnipotent  Creator  of  all  things,  to  him  who  holds  the  winds 
in  the  hollow  of  his  hands,  to  him  who  covereth  the  heavens 
with  clouds,  to  him  who  prepares  the  rain  for  the  earth,  to  Him 
who  scatters  the  fierce  lightning  by  his  Almighty  hand,  to  him 
who  bids  the  loud-booming  thunder  to  roll  through  the  vaulted 
heavens,  until  voice  answers  to  voice,  echo  to  echo,  and  the  very 
orchestra  of  the  skies  seems  about  to  be  chanting  the  great  judg- 
ment dirge  of  the  day  of  doom,  and  the  final  conflagration  of  a 


204  LIFE   OF   REV.   CHARLES   PITMAN,   D.D. 

sin-ruined  and  sin-cursed  world.  Where,  we  repeat  the  ques- 
tion, is  our  Orator  for  God  ?  See  him  standing  in  the  sacred 
place.  He  has  lately  come  from  a  throne  of  mercy — come  from 
a  place  where  he  has  been  holding  audience  with  God.  He  lifts 
up  his  voice  and  bids  the  congregation  wait,  and  then  declares  in 
the  presence  of  God — the  vast  audience  before  him  of  skeptics 
and  infidels,  of  unbelievers  and  Christians — with  all  these  seem- 
ing probabilities  and  portentous  omens  of  a  terrific  tempest 
hovering  over  their  heads — that  there  would  be  no  rain  for  the 
present,  and  to  remain  in  their  seats,  for  he  was  the  Lord's  am- 
bassador ;  he  had  a  message  from  God  to  them,  and  the  storm 
would  not  descend  until  he  had  delivered  that  message,  and  then 
for  over  an  hour,  in  each  instance,  he  preached  with  an  inspira- 
tion and  eloquence  that  only  could  be  inspired  by  God  himself, 
and  under  a  baptism  that  descended  from  the  throne ;  and  the 
clouds  withheld  their  floods,  and  the  lightnings  were  restrained, 
and  the  thunders  were  pent-up,  and  the  word  of  the  Lord  had 
free  course  and  was  glorified.  And  closing  the  services,  he 
shouted  :  u  To  your  tents,  O  Israel !  to  your  tents,  O  Israel !  for 
the  Lord's  message  having  been  delivered,  and  our  prayers 
having  been  answered,  the  rain  will  now  descend  from  the 
clouds !  "  And  the  people,  obeying  the  voice  of  the  preacher,  fled 
to  their  tents  for  further  worship,  "and  the  rain  descended  and 
the  floods  came,"  and  a  spiritual  baptism  of  converting  power 
came  with  them ;  and  as  an  estimate  of  the  Divine  Spirit's  ap- 
proval, at  one  of  these  wonderful  instances  of  God's  great  power, 
over  five  hundred  souls  were  converted. 

Witness  again  the  wonderful  interest  that  was  created  in  the 
announcement  of  the  dedication  of  a  new  church,  and  of  the 
presence  of  Dr.  Charles  Pitman,  who  would  preach  on  the  occa- 
sion. On  that  day,  and  at  that  place,  wherever  it  might  be,  long 
before  the  hour  of  the  morning  service,  multitudes  of  people 
would  be  seen  thronging  the  highways  from  all  quarters  leading 
to  the  church,  so  that  before  the  time  of  service  had  arrived,  the 


nsfSTANCE   AND   EFFECT  OF   TRUE   ORATORY.  205 

church  generally  was  crowded  to  its  utmost  capacity,  and  often 
throngs  of  people  would  gather  about  the  doors  and  windows  to 
get  a  glimpse  of  the  "great  preacher/'  and  to  hear  the  message 
of  salvation  from  his  lips ;  and  no  congregation  that  ever  as- 
sembled on  those  occasions  were  disappointed.  That  silver-toned 
trumpet  gave  no  uncertain  sound,  and  the  people  knew  what  to 
expect  when  this  prince  of  the  Lord's  host  led  the  army  into 
battle. 

Witness  the  scene  of  the  dedication  of  a  church  in  the  lower 
part  of  New  Jersey,  at  Porchtown,  as  detailed  by  a  saintly 
Christian  woman  who  was  present  and  heard  the  sermon,  and 
was  an  eye-witness  to  the  scenes  that  attended  the  peroration  of 
that  grand  and  heaven-inspired  sermon  on  that  occasion.  It  was 
too  grand  for  pen  to  write,  or  pencil  to  trace,  or  imagination  to 
depict.  An  angel's  eloquence  could  not  portray  the  scene,  much 
less,  describe  its  power,  or  picture  the  heavenly  prospective  that 
flashed  the  sunlight  of  ecstatic  triumph  upon  that  scene ;  when 
this  mouth-piece  of  God,  this  grand  generalissimo  of  the  "King 
of  kings  and  Lord  of  lords,"  marched  the  victorious  hosts  of 
God's  elect  about  our  spiritual  Zion,  shouting  to  them  to  "go 
round  about  her,"  and  "tell  the  towers  thereof,"  and  "mark  well 
her  bulwarks,"  and  "consider  her  palaces,"  that  they  might  tell 
it  to  the  generations  following,  even  to  their  children's  children. 
For  this  God  is  our  God  for  ever  and  ever,  and  he  will  be  our 
guide  even  unto  death."  Ps.  xlviii.  12-14. 

On  many  occasions  of  a  similar  character  did  Dr.  Pitman 
use  this  text,  but  in  no  one  instance  without  marvelous  effect. 
In  fact,  instances  did  occur  where  he  was  asked  by  the  people 
to  preach  from  it  as  the  text  of  the  dedicatory  sermon  of  their 
new  church,  and  it  so  grew  in  his  capacious  and  wonderfully 
expansive  mind  that  in  later  years,  instead  of  embracing  the 
three  verses  in  the  announcement  of  the  text,  he  would  select 
one  of  the  three  and  discourse  upon  that  for  an  hour  or  more, 
and  yet  no  one  seemed  to  weary  or  become  impatient;  in  truth, 


206  LIFE   OF   REV.   CHARLES   PITMAN,   D.D. 

it  may  be  said  of  him,  as  an  ambassador  of  Christ :  "  The  com- 
mon people  heard  him  gladly,"  no  matter  how  long  he  might 
preach.  As  to  those  who  moved  in  the  higher  circles  of  life, 
Dr.  Pitman  was  often  a  favorite  preacher  with  them,  so  that 
whether  he  was  preaching  in  the  county  towns  of  New  Jer- 
sey or  in  the  cities  of  Philadelphia  and  New  York,  he  drew 
largely  on  the  cultured  classes  of  society  for  a  goodly  part  of 
his  congregation ;  and  the  church  regards  as  due  to  his  faith- 
ful and  popular  administration  of  divine  teachings,  that  suc- 
cess which  was  so  beneficial  in  bringing  to  her  aid,  in  a  time 
of  great  need,  some  of  the  most  influential  and  wealthy  classes 
of  people,  whose  benevolence,  consecrated  wealth  and  financial 
aid,  have  proven  to  be  a  powerful  auxiliary  in  placing  Method- 
ism in  the  ascendancy,  and  putting  her  upon  a  corresponding 
foundation  with  other  churches.  It  is  the  testimony  of  one 
of  his  contemporaries  that  his  ministry  marked  and  designated 
the  transitional  period  of  Methodism  in  New  Jersey  and  Phila- 
delphia, and  no  one  man  contributed  more  to  the  elevation  and 
upbuilding  of  the  Church  of  God  during  his  time  than  Rev. 
Dr.  Charles  Pitman.  Another  writer  speaks  of  it  "  as  being  a 
time  when  a  large  number  of  those  plain,  old-fashioned  churches 
erected  and  occupied  with  so  much  religious  faith  and  fervor  by 
our  fathers  had  served  their  generation  and  were  passing  away, 
while  a  new  period  of  church  architecture  had  come,  and 
buildings  more  commodious,  costly  and  better  adapted  to  the 
growing  interests  of  our  Zion  were  needed  and  were  rising  on 
every  hand."  A  desire  was  experienced  as  to  how  the  expenses 
were  to  be  met,  which  were  no  inconsiderable  tax  upon  the 
liberality  and  purses  of  people  with  limited  means.  The 
combination  of  superior  elements,  and  the  great  spiritual  and 
natural  endowments,  which  Dr.  Pitman  possessed,  character- 
ized him  as  a  man  for  the  time,  as  well  as  a  man  of  the  times, 
and  by  his  superior  powers,  both  as  a  preacher  of  the  gospel, 
and  his  remarkable  social  characteristics,  he  was  the  minister 


BENEFICIAL  ADVANTAGES   OF  TRUE  ORATORY.          207 

and  the  man  that  met  the  exigencies  of  the  period,  and  most 
nobly  did  he  fill  his  vocation  and  mission,  both  in  and  out  of 
the  church. 

But,  before  closing  this  chapter,  we  ask  the  reader's  forbear- 
ance while  we  speak  of  Dr.  Pitman's  manner  of  reading  hymns. 
It  is  not  every  minister  who  knows  how  to  read  hymns,  or  even 
to  read  the  Word  of  God  before  a  public  congregation  with  the 
best  effect,  and  in  not  a  few  instances  this  very  necessary  attain- 
ment and  advantage  has  been  neglected,  sadly  neglected,  even 
by  some  scholarly  and  titled  men,  and  not  infrequently  is  it  the 
case  that  a  good  discourse,  or  one  that  has  cost  its  author  a  great 
deal  of  research  and  mental  pains  and  labor  to  prepare  it,  has 
had  half  or  two-thirds  of  its  effect  nullified  by  the  manner  in 
which  the  introductory  services  were  conducted,  and  in  the  flip- 
pant or  sluggish  way,  in  which  the  hymns,  and  the  scriptural 
lessons  were  read,  preceding  the  delivery  of  the  sermon.  If 
some  ministers  and  public  teachers  would  only  consider  the 
value  of  first  impressions,  they  would  exercise  greater  care  and 
correctness  in  their  introductory  services.  A  poet  can  read 
poetry ;  a  man  who  can  weave  in  beautiful  rhythm  the  finest 
sentiments  of  prose,  and  make  his  thoughts  tone  to  the  melodies 
of  speech,  and  the  art  of  harmonious  accent,  knows,  or  will  soon 
learn,  how  to  give  accent  and  utterance  to  hymns,  in  the  read- 
ing of  them,  and  of  the  sacred  Scriptures,  and  it  should  be  as 
much  cultivated  by  ministers  and  those  who  have  charge  of  the 
opening  of  our  religious  services,  as  is  considered  to  be  due  to 
the  preparation  of  any  other  part  of  these  exercises. 

Dr.  Pitman  knew  the  value  of  hymns  ;  he  knew  their  power 
over  the  human  heart ;  he  knew  their  influence  to  penetrate 
even  the  deepest  researches  and  feelings  of  the  human  soul,  and 
he  did  not  neglect  "  this  gift  of  God  within  him."  Many  refer- 
ences have  been  made  to  his  reading  hymns  and  the  Scriptural 
lessons  and  the  announcement  of  his  subject  and  text,  in  which 
he  always  enlisted  the  attention  and  often  moved  the  sympathies 


208  LIFE   OF   REV.    CHARLES   PITMAN,    D.D. 

of  the  whole  audience  to  himself,  the  secret  of  many  a  great  man's 
power.  If  preachers  want  their  sermons  to  be  effective  and  to 
produce  the  best  results,  two  things  should  be  observed,  and  on 
their  part  should,  if  possible,  be  secured  ;  first,  that  while  their 
thoughts  and  soul  should  flow  down  to  the  congregation,  in  the 
utterances  which  they  make,  the  prayers  and  spiritual  sympathies 
of  the  congregation,  or  audience  should  flow  from  their  hearts, 
up  to  the  preachers,  so  as  to  make  them  feel  conscious  that  they 
were  doing  them  good  in  every  word  they  utter,  and  it  is  in  this 
way  that  they  can  secure  their  attention,  and  do  their  audiences 
the  greatest  amount  of  good.  This  can  be  done  ;  it  is  no  diffi- 
cult task.  Brethren,  if  you  understand  your  position,  it  should 
be  done  in  your  introductory  services,  and  when  you  come  to 
announce  your  text  you  should  be  conscious  that  this  power  is 
surrounding  you,  and  if  you  are,  you  will  not  only  preach  well, 
but  you  will  preach  good,  and,  above  all,  you  will  do  good. 

We  might  multiply  instances  of  Dr.  Pitman's  reading  hymns 
and  moving  whole  audiences,  as  well  as  refer  to  hymns  which, 
under  the  mold  and  intonations  of  his  plastic  voice,  were  made 
surprisingly  beautiful,  impressively  eloquent  and  exquisitely 
tender,  so  that  words  and  harmony,  blended  with  tone  and  utter- 
ance, caused  the  whole  nature  of  an  auditor  to  be  moved  under 
it,  but  the  following  will  serve  our  purpose  : 

An  eloquent  writer  and  minister  of  our  church  thus  describes 
a  scene  of  this  character,  and  the  effect  it  made  upon  him  :  "  It 
was,"  says  he,  "  on  Sabbath  afternoon  during  Dr.  Pitman's  pop- 
ular career  at  Union  Church,  Philadelphia,  about  the  1st  of 
March,  1834,  when  I  first  saw  him.  The  venerable  Dr.  Gough, 
a  local  minister  in  connection  with  the  church,  had  preached} 
and  the  services  were  about  being  closed,  when  I,  a  youth,  from 
motives  of  curiosity,  ascending  the  northern  stairway,  stood 
upon  the  upper  step  in  full  view  of  his  majestic  form.  Mr. 
Pitman  was  then  in  his  thirty-eighth  year,  and  in  the  very  zen- 
ith of  his  manhood  and  ministerial  glory,  and  was  reading  the 


ORATORY   CHARACTERISTIC   WITH   DR.    PITMAN.          209 

hymn  commencing,  'Othat  my  load  of  sin  were  gone/     The 
first  words  that  reached  my  ear  were, — 

" '  The  cross  all  stained  with  hallowed  blood, 
The  labor  of  His  dying  love.' 

"All  the  deep  sympathies  of  his  nature  were  poured  into 
these  two  lines.  The  voice  seemed  almost  divine,  and  the 
blessed  sentiments  fell  into  the  soul  softly  and  smoothly  as  drops 
of  liquid  silver.  They  are  never  to  be  forgotten.  This  was  the 
commencement  of  my  own  religious  history,  and  now,  at  the 
expiration  of  thirty,  or  more  years,  that  majestic  form  and 
mellow  voice  are  fresh  and  beautiful  in  memory,  as  things  of 
yesterday."  * 

We  may  further  add  that,  what  was  characteristic  with  Dr. 
Pitman  in  reading  hymns,  Scriptural  lessons,  and  his  text,  was 
also  significantly  impressive  in  reading  the  baptismal,  the  sacra- 
mental and  the  burial  service.  In  all  of  these  highly  impressive 
forms  of  our  ritual  service,  he  was  noticed  with  marked  attention 
and  listened  to  with  profound  interest.  It  was  in  reading  these 
forms  of  service,  repeating  these  solemn,  supplicatory  prayers, 
that  was  discovered  all  of  that  naturalness  of  manner,  that  dis- 
tinctive pathos  of  utterance,  and  that  lofty  conception  and  ven- 
eration which  he  felt  in  standing  as  mediator  and  intercessor 
between  God  and  the  candidate  for  holy  baptism,  the  humble 
recipient  of  the  memorials  of  Christ's  death,  or  the  last  and 
solemn  rites  of  the  burial  of  the  dead,  and  in  these  exercises  he 
made  all  present  feel  both  the  impressiveness  and  solemnity  of 
these  occasions  and  also  of  the  services,  which  suggests  lessons 
of  great  importance  to  every  minister  of  Jesus  Christ. 

An  extract  or  two  from  his  productions  will  show  the  reader 
the  beauty  and  force  of  his  rhetorical  accomplishments,  and  his 
exquisitely  fine  taste  in  framing  and  forming  his  sentences,  many 
of  which  would  rank  with  the  most  splendid  diction  of  our 

*Rev.  E.  H.  Stokes,  D.D.,  New  Jersey  Conference  Memorial,  p.  254. 
14 


210  LIFE   OP   REV.    CHARLES   PITMAN,    D.D. 

greatest  scholars,  and  be  considered  as  some  of  the  brightest 
adornments  of  our  English  idiom. 

In  describing  the  state  of  an  apostate  from  the  fold  and  family 
of  God,  Dr.  Pitman  says  of  him :  "  In  days  that  are  past  he 
could  stay  his  soul  upon  God,  while  divine  peace  flowed  in  like  a 
river ;  but  now  his  mind  is  full  of  perturbation,  and  his  heart 
of  trouble.  The  Sun  of  righteousness  no  more  rises  to  gild  his 
spiritual  horizon,  but  has  set  behind  a  cloud,  and  left  his  soul  in 
all  the  gloom  of  night.  No  warming  beams  of  heavenly  grace  thaw 
the  frigidity  of  his  affections,  or  melt  the  icicles  which  hang 
about  his  frozen  heart.  Hence  his  mind  being  dark  and  dreary, 
his  affections  cold  and  frozen,  if  he  has  not  sunk  into  a  state  of 
social  apathy,  he  is  unnecessarily  the  subject  of  tormenting  anxi- 
eties and  discontent.  His  hours  and  his  minutes  are  cheerless, 
and  pass  heavily  away.  In  such  a  situation  as  this  the  bitter 
lamentation  of  Job  is  well  adapted  to  the  case  :  f  O  that  I  were 
as  in  months  past,  as  in  the  days  when  God  preserved  me,  when 
his  candle  shone  upon  my  head,  and  when  by  his  light  I  walked 
through  darkness,  as  I  was  in  the  days  of  my  youth,  when  the 
secret  of  God  was  upon  my  tabernacle.' >: 

In  speaking  of  Christ's  conquests,  he  says  :  "  I  know  not  what 
was  wanting  to  complete  the  trophies  of  his  triumph.  Nature 
did  him  homage  in  the  prodigies  of  earth  and  sky.  Judaism 
recognized  him  in  the  rending  of  the  veil.  The  Gentiles  con- 
fessed him  by  the  voice  of  the  centurion.  Sinful  humanity 
yielded  to  him  in  the  conversion  of  the  expiring  malefactor. 
The  separate  soul  was  ransomed  by  him  from  the  power  of  the 
second  death,  when  he  bore  the  spirit  of  that  penitent  male- 
factor to  Paradise,  and  the  grave  was  vanquished  by  him,  when 
arising  from  his  own  tomb,  he  raised,  together  with  his  dead 
body,  those  of  the  saints  sleeping  in  the  sepulchre.  Think 
of  his  ascension.  The  powers  of  hell  were  chained  to  his 
chariot-wheels,  an  open  spectacle  of  his  triumph.  Attendant 
angels  worshipped  him  and  bore  him  to  his  throne.  The 


QUOTATIONS   FROM   HIS  SERMONS.  211 

church  on  earth  adored  him  as  he  was  parted  from  them.  The 
spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect  waited  to  prostrate  themselves 
before  the  ascending  conqueror,  and  these  many  sleepers  of  the 
tomb,  invested  with  their  redeemed  and  glorified  bodies,  followed 
him  in  the  ascending  track  of  his  glory,  and  graced  his  tri- 
umphal entry  within  the  uplifted  gates  of  the  celestial  city." 

In  analyzing  certain  characteristics  of  distinguished  men,  he 
says :  "  There  is  a  class  of  divines  who  soar  to  the  third  heaven 
in  search  of  materials  with  which  to  deck  their  effusions  ;  who 
rob  the  stars  of  their  lustre,  the  sky  of  its  azure,  the  sunset  of  its 
bewitching  and  gorgeous  beauty,  invoke  the  aid  of  all  the 
graces,  and  thus  erect  a  splendid  pile  of  frost-work,  which  cer- 
tainly affects  the  mind  with  a  transitory  emotion  of  rapture, 
and  yet  fails  to  produce  any  permanent  impression ;  we  listen, 
we  admire,  and  a  sort  of  dreamy  delight  steals  o'er  the  senses, 
and  '  laps  us  in  Elysium' — the  mind  is  overpowered  with  the 
enchanting  brilliancy  of  the  production,  and  we  turn  away 
'  dazzled  and  drunk  with  beauty/  to  revert  to  it  as  a 

*  *  *      fairy  vision 

Of  some  bright  creatures  in  the  ideal  world, 
That  in  the  colors  of  the  rainbow  live, 
Or  play  in  the  passing  cloud.' 

"  It  has  been  said  of  Dr.  Bascom  that ( he  baptized  his  hearers 
with  flowers/  and  of  Lord  Bacon,  '  that  every  idea  submitted 
to  the  crucible  of  his  inductive  philosophy  emerged  therefrom, 
transformed  into  admitted  truths.'  These  great  men  belong  to 
different  classes.  The  latter  was  famed  for  his  argumentative 
powers,  the  former  is  noted  for  his  imagery.  Of  him  who  is 
placed  in  the  Baconian  category,  it  is  to  be  remarked  that  argu- 
ment is  decidedly  his  forte.  Every  position  assumed  by  him 
becomes  at  once  a  kind  of  nucleus,  around  which  he  gathers  the 
most  undeniable  and  invincible  facts,  thus  rearing  up  a  rampart 
which  may  defy  all  sophistry  and  transcendentalism.  But  to 


212  LIFE  OF   REV.   CHARLES   PITMAN,   D.D. 

these  two  classes  may  we  not  add  a  third, — the  purely  evangel- 
ical minister,  whose  only  theme  is  Christ  and  Him  crucified. 
In  the  pulpit  discourses  of  this  man,  all  meretricious  ornament 
and  tinsel  are  discarded,  and  he  uses  just  enough  of  imagery  to 
enchant  the  mind,  and  of  argument  to  convince  the  judgment, 
while  he  directs  his  hearers  to  the  more  important  truths  of  the 
gospel.  Now  a  burst  of  pure  spiritual  eloquence  falls  like  a 
stream  of  burning  lava  upon  the  heart,  and  then  a  splendid 
thought  as  the  glow  of  a  meteoric  phenomenon,  will  startle  his 
audience  with  its  surprising  brilliancy,  and  while  the  effulgence 
of  its  beams  linger  around,  the  speaker  points  out  by  its  parting 
rays  the  beauty  and  strength  of  the  structure  he  is  erecting." 

While  describing  Dr.  Pitman  as  an  orator  for  God,  a  preacher, 
a  reader  and  a  writer  of  a  sublime,  glowing  and  transcendently 
eloquent  style,  we  may  here  insert  a  description  which  he  wrote 
in  middle  life  of  a  great  and  wonderfully  impressive  orator  who 
visited  this  country,  about  the  year  1841,  as  a  delegate  from  the 
English  "Wesleyan  Church  to  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
of  America,  and  who  stirred  the  hearts  of  both  preachers  and 
laymen  in  all  our  Conference  gatherings  and  congregations  where 
he  preached,  or  addressed  them. 

Speaking  of  Eev.  Dr.  Newton,  after  having  heard  him  preach 
several  times,  he  says :  "  Dr.  Newton  combines,  in  a  larger  de- 
gree than  any  other  man  I  know,  the  essential  elements  of  a 
pulpit  orator.  He  possesses  noble  qualities — in  person,  voice 
and  gesture ;  he  is  at  once  animated  and  serious ;  gentle,  yet 
faithful,  dignified  but  not  ostentatious  and  imposing,  yet  per- 
fectly simple.  But  above  all,  the  great  charm  which  crowns  the 
whole  is,  that  he  seems  eminently  baptized  with  the  spirit  of  his 
calling.  All  his  powers  are  laid  at  the  Master's  feet,  and  you 
realize  that  you  are  listening  to  a  messenger  of  the  Most  High, 
who  has  come  to  talk  to  you  on  the  highest  concerns  that  can 
occupy  human  thought  or  feeling.  Without  this  there  is  no 
true  pulpit  oratory." 


CHAPTER    XV. 

DR.   PITMAN   AND   HIS   CONTEMPORARIES. 

WE  propose  in  this  chapter  to  speak  in  brief  of  some  of  the 
men  who  were  Mr.  Pitman's  contemporaries,  and  who 
were  more  or  less  intimately  associated  with  him  in  labor,  from 
the  time  he  entered  upon  his  ministerial  career,  to  the  time  of 
his  appointment  as  Corresponding  Secretary  of  the  Missionary 
Society  of  the  M.  E.  Church. 

The  first  of  these  was  Rev.  Edward  Page,  who,  at  the  time 
when  Mr.  Pitman  commenced  to  exercise  his  gifts,  was  a  local 
preacher,  laboring  on  Columbus  Circuit.  He  was  converted  in 
1807,  and  shortly  afterwards  joined  the  M.  E.  Church  ;  the 
next  year  after  his  conversion,  he  was  licensed  to  exhort,  and 
four  years  later  was  licensed  to  preach,  and,  in  April,  1817,  he 
joined  the  Philadelphia  Conference,  as  an  itinerant  minister,  and 
for  thirty-five  years  continued  in  the  active  work  of  the  minis- 
try, and  for  sixteen  years  was  supernumerary  or  superannuated 
in  his  relation  to  the  Church.  He  possessed  the  gift  of  song, 
and  was  specially  known  as  a  "  sweet  singer  in  Israel,"  and 
having  power  to  stir  the  hearts  of  the  people  in  prayer,  and  by 
words  of  earnest  exhortation, he  was  specially  adapted  to  revival 
work.  He  was  faithful  in  expounding  the  Word  of  God,  kind 
and  sympathetic  in  his  attentions  to  the  sick  and  dying.  He 
had  a  joyful,  Christian  experience,  and  in  his  soul  beamed  the 
bright  influence  of  holy  hope.  He  was  considered  by  all  who 
knew  him,  in  later  life,  "  a  happy  old  man,"  and  at  last  entered 
peacefully  and  calmly  into  his  heavenly  rest. 

Rev.  George  Banghart  joined  the  Philadelphia  Conference  in 
1812.  He  was  Mr.  Pitman's  first  colleague,  and  labored  with 

213 


214  LIFE   OP   KEV.   CHARLES   PITMAN,   D.D. 

him  in  1818,  on  Trenton  Circuit,  in  New  Jersey.  He  was  con- 
verted in  early  manhood,  and  entered  upon  Christian  life  with 
all  the  impetuosity  and  enthusiasm  of  his  warm  and  earnest  na- 
ture, and  soon  became  a  "  Boanerges,"  in  exhorting  sinners  to 
repentance,  and  subsequently  developed  into,  what  the  people 
in  his  day  denominated,  "  a  grand,  old-fashioned  Methodist," 
and  possessing  considerable  executive  ability  and  tact,  he  made 
a  good  officer,  an  efficient  presiding  elder,  and  was  regarded  as 
a  wise  and  safe  counselor  in  the  church.  He  was  very  popular, 
respected  and  highly  esteemed  all  through  the  upper  counties  of 
New  Jersey,  and  closed  his  work  on  earth  in  advanced  old  age, 
for  a  home  beyond  the  skies. 

Rev.  John  Potts  joined  the  Philadelphia  Conference  in  1813. 
He  was  Mr.  Pitman's  second  colleague,  and  was  stationed  with 
him  in  1819,  on  Bergen  Circuit,  New  Jersey.  He  served  a 
number  of  appointments  in  the  Philadelphia  Conference,  and 
subsequently  was  made  Presiding  Elder.  He  is  described  as  a 
strong,  clear,  practical  preacher,  an  able  defender  of  Methodist 
doctrine  and  church  polity,  a  good  and  faithful  Presiding  Elder, 
wise  in  counsel,  affable  in  manner,  exact  in  habits,  and  conscien- 
tious in  practice.  He  had  great  influence  in  the  Conference,  of 
which  he  was  among  its  leaders,  and  took  a  very  active  part  in 
all  its  affairs.  He  died  in  great  peace,  in  Philadelphia,  in 
1837,  and  was  buried  in  the  Ebenezer  M.  E.  Church  burial- 
ground,  where  the  church  now  stands. 

Rev.  Ezekiel  Cooper  joined  the  Philadelphia  Conference  in 
1785.  He  belonged  to  the  pioneer  band  of  early  Methodist 
preachers.  "  He  was  a  remarkable  man  in  every  respect,  far 
above  the  ordinary  height  of  men,  angular  in  form  and  features," 
and  elastic  in  his  step  and  motions ;  he  indicated  a  man  of  au- 
tomatic action.  He  was  a  scholar  of  no  mean  or  meager  attain- 
ments. As  a  preacher  he  was  strong  in  logic,  clear  in  exposi- 
tion, sound  in  doctrine,  and  a  man  of  great  force  in  the  pulpit. 
His  sermon  on  the  death  of  Bishop  Asbury,  in  St.  George's 


HIS   CONTEMPORARIES.  215 

Church,  Philadel  phia,  is  more  than  testimonial ;  it  is  monumental 
to  his  character  and  greatness  as  an  able  expositor  of  the  deep 
things  of  God,  and  of  that  mysterious  Providence  that  overrules 
all  things  for  the  Christian's  good.  He  was  Presiding  Elder  on 
the  West  Jersey  District,  in  1825,  and  was  honored  and  re- 
vered as  an  apostolic  father.  As  a  writer  he  stood  in  the  front 
ranks  of  the  men  of  his  day.  In  Conference  he  was  an  ac- 
knowledged leader,  and  exercised  great  influence  among  the 
preachers.  He  was  sharp  in  his  criticism.  Having  heard  a 
choir  of  singers  murder  a  piece  of  music,  he  wrote  the  follow- 
ing, which  does  not  speak  complimentary  of  their  performance  : 

"  A  piece  of  music  made  with  taste  and  art, 
With  calculations  true,  to  'cord  in  every  part, 
And  sung  exact  by  rule,  with  voices  soft  and  clear, 
It  fills  my  soul  with  life — Oh !  heaven  I  think  is  near, 
But  cruel  discord  rends  and  '  rives  my  nerves  asunder.' 
Like  squalls  of  storming  wind,  with  hail  and  dismal  thunder. 
Some  screech  like  owls,  or  croak  like  crows  of  ravens  flying, 
Some  bawl  like  monkies  whipt,  with  all  their  hideous  crying; 
Or  squeak,  or  scream  like  pigs  in  all  the  pain  of  dying. 
No  time  is  kept ;  some  go  too  fast,  and  some  too  slow, 
And  as  to  tone,  some  are  too  high,  and  some  too  low. 
Thus  time,  and  tune,  and  tone,  are  terribly  abused, 
And  in  a  frightful  medley  horribly  confused. 
Of  all  the  clash  and  din  of  harsh  and  dreadful  sounds, 
With  which  the  universe  in  discord  so  abounds, 
This  hateful  jargon  by  such  singers  is  the  worst, 
And  penetrates  me  with  the  most  acute  disgust." 

"  He  made  one  great  mistake  in  life,"  says  a  contemporary 
writer ;  "  he  lived  and  died  a  bachelor,  and  as  a  consequence,  in 
his  last  days,  felt  the  need  of  the  tender  care  of  a  family  and 
the  comforts  of  a  home."  He  closed  his  life  in  blest  anticipa- 
tion of  a  better  one  in  a  brighter  world,  and  was  buried  in  the 
yard  in  front  of  St.  George's  church,  Philadelphia',  where  a 
suitable  tablet  marks  his  resting-place. 


216.  LIFE   OF   REV.   CHARLES   PITMAN,   D.D. 

Rev.  Solomon  Sharp  joined  the  Philadelphia  Conference  in 
1792.  He  was  an  old-time  Methodist  preacher,  and  was  a 
unique  originality ;  grace,  but  little  changed  his  constitutional 
characteristics,  or  modified  the  purposes  of  his  strong  will,  in- 
domitable courage,  and  super-abundant  combativeness.  "  He 
was  fully  six  feet  high,  with  massive  head,  broad  shoulders, 
large  hands  and  feet,  and  white  hair  at  least  a  foot  long,  hang- 
ing below  his  shoulders."  He  memorized  large  portions  of 
the  Word  of  God,  and  was  remarkable  in  his  application  of 
Scripture.  "  In  his  palmy  days,  he  was  said  to  be  '  the  best 
every-day  preacher  of  his  time.'  Some  thought  him  endowed 
with  the  gift  of  prophecy,  as  he  had  such  wonderful  foresight 
in  foretelling  future  events,  as  to  make  it  seem  to  border  on 
the  miraculous.  "  He  was  mighty  in  prayer,  and  the  answers 
he  received  to  his  petitions  almost  exceeded  human  belief."  He 
preached  with  great  earnestness  and  often  with  wonderful  power. 
He  was  a  strong  "  defender  of  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the 
saints."  He  passed  triumphantly  into  the  spirit-land,  uttering 
thanksgivings  to  God  for  his  goodness  and  mercy. 

Rev.  Manning  Force  joined  the  Philadelphia  Conference  in 
1811.  In  person  he  was  tall — over  six  feet  in  height — perfectly 
straight  and  erect  in  form,  and  his  personnel  often  attracted  the  at- 
tention of  the  people  as  he  moved  among  them.  He  was  wholly 
exempt  from  every  quality  that  would  offend  even  the  most 
fastidious  and  critical  taste.  His  character  was  well  rounded ; 
he  combined  dignity  with  ease,  firmness  with  gentleness,  earnest- 
ness with  tenderness.  Unselfish  in  his  nature,  he  seemed  free 
from  envy  and  jealousy ;  careful  of  the  reputation  of  his  breth- 
ren in  the  ministry,  he  never  excited  suspicion  respecting  them, 
by  deprecatory  remarks,  or  ambiguous  insinuations.  Whether 
in  public  or  private,  he  impressed  you  with  a  conviction  of  the 
deepest  sincerity  and  conscientiousness,  and  that  he  aspired  to 
goodness  rather  than  greatness.  None  knew  him  but  to  love 
him.  As  a  preacher  he  was  plain  and  practical,  original  in  his 


HIS   CONTEMPORARIES.  217 

methods  ;  he  was  always  instructive  and  pleasing ;  his  sermons 
were  always  short  and  seldom  exceeded  a  half-hour,  except  on 
some  extraordinary  occasion.  As  a  Presiding  Elder,  his  quarterly 
visitations  were  always  welcomed  by  both  preachers  and  people, 
and  in  Quarterly  Conference  business  he  was  thorough,  active 
and  minute,  always  abounding  in  words  of  commendation  to 
the  officiary,  when  they  had  done  well  to  their  pastor,  and  urging, 
in  the  most  gentle  and  affable  manner,  where  there  seemed  to  be 
a  failure,  or  lack  in  the  financial  interests  of  the  Society.  He 
rode  his  districts  on  horseback,  with  saddle-bags,  books  on  one 
side  and  wearing-apparel  on  the  other,  and  often  would  spend 
the  entire  quarter  on  the  district,  preaching  and  visiting  the 
people  from  place  to  place.  He  was  held  in  high  esteem  by  all 
the  preachers,  loved  as  a  father  by  the  younger  ones,  ven- 
erated and  honored  by  the  people,  welcomed  with  the  pleasing 
delights  of  children,  and  the  subject  of  great  deference  and 
respect  by  the  unconverted.  He  was  a  patriarch  and  seer  in  the 
home  of  affliction  and  baptized  every  household  he  entered,  with 
his  religious  purity,  life  and  personal  goodness,  and  died  in  holy 
triumph  and  blessed  hope  in  Christ,  his  Redeemer  and  complete 
Saviour. 

Rev.  Richard  W.  Petherbridge  joined  the  Philadelphia  Con- 
ference in  1815.  He  was  of  short,  stout  build,  small  bone,  well- 
cushioned  with  flesh.  His  head  was  large  and  heavily  covered 
with  bushy  hair;  his  eyes  were  small  and  his  mouth  broad, 
with  heavy  lips.  He  was  a  man  of  stern  appearance,  and  ap- 
parently unapproachable ;  the  peculiar  intonations  o£  his  voice 
indicated  to  a  stranger  no  small  degree  of  abruptness,  not  to 
say  ill-temper,  but  in  this  he  was  greatly  misunderstood  by  those 
who  did  not  know  him ;  his  manner  was  constitutional  with 
him  and  belonged  more  to  his  habit  than  to  his  feeling.  To 
elicit  his  approbation  in  anything,  you  would  soon  discover  that 
he  used  the  same  tones  of  voice  either  to  praise  or  blame,  and 
when  once  accustomed  to  it,  you  soon  forgot  the  manner  in  the 


218  LIFE   OF    REV.    CHARLES   PITMAN,    D.D. 

honest,  sincere,  earnest  God-fearing  man.  He  had  a  clear, 
strong  and  comprehensive  mind,  always  an  honest  advocate  for 
the  right;  and  when  thoroughly  aroused  in  the  pulpit,  he  would 
preach  with  such  vehemence  that  even  the  children  used  to  think 
him  scolding  the  members  of  the  church,  most  furiously.  We 
loved  him  in  our  childhood,  revered  and  respected  him  in  our 
manhood,  and  cherish  his  memory  now  that  he  sleeps  with  our 
father,  his  life-long  friend  and  companion,  in  the  same  church- 
yard, awaiting  the  resurrection  at  the  last  day. 

Edmund  S.  Janes  (afterwards  Bishop)  joined  the  Philadelphia 
Conference  in  1832.  In  1835  he,  with  Mr.  Pitman,  was  ap- 
pointed agent  for  Dickinson  College,  ostensibly  to  travel  over 
the  whole  connection  and  solicit  funds  to  relieve  the  college  from 
its  financial  embarrassments.  They  both  were  men  of  mark  and 
of  great  pulpit  force,  and  were  selected  with  a  view  to  this  ar- 
duous position.  Bishop  Janes  was  a  short,  heavy,  thick-set 
man,  of  fine  personarappearance,  pleasant  countenance,  and  with 
remarkably  exquisite  features,  and  a  voice  almost  as  soft  as  femi- 
nine cadences.  In  manner  he  was  dignified,  courteous,  kind  and 
fatherly.  He  loved  the  preachers ;  he  loved  the  Church  even 
more,  and  thought  no  preacher  too  good  for  any  of  our  churches, 
nor  no  church  in  the  connection  too  good  for  any  of  our 
preachers,  who  had  the  Holy  Ghost  in  their  hearts,  and  had  been 
called  of  God  to  the  Christian  ministry.  He  was  a  man  of 
prayer.  He  prayed  for  all  the  preachers  in  our  connection  ;  then 
he  prayed  for  all  the  Presiding  Elders,  calling  them  often  by 
name  before  a  throne  of  grace ;  then  he  prayed  for  the  mission- 
ary cause  and  the  missionaries ;  then  for  the  whole  Church  and 
all  the  agencies  it  was  employing  to  promote  the  kingdom  of 
Christ  in  the  world.  The  author,  on  one  occasion,  slept  with 
him  ;  and  coming  into  the  room  some  time  after  the  Bishop  had 
entered  to  retire,  found  him  just  rising  from  his  knees,  where  he 
had  been  in  prayer  for  an  hour  and  more ;  and  in  the  morning  he 
arose  early,  long  before  sun-rise,  and  spent  more  than  an  hour  on 


HIS   CONTEMPORARIES.  219 

his  knees  before  God.  He  was  a  Holy  Ghost  preacher.  He 
preached  in  demonstration  of  the  Spirit  and  power.  No  man 
ever  threw  his  soul  into  his  sermons  with  more  energy  than  Ed- 
mund S.  Janes.  He  was  a  model  Bishop.  No  man  has  ever 
filled  the  Episcopal  chair  with  more  credit  and  satisfaction,  with 
more  dignity  and  honor,  than  he  did.  He  was  one  of  the  apos- 
tles of  American  Methodism.  He  was  indefatigable  in  his  ef- 
forts, and  unwearied  in  his  labors.  "  Work !  work  ! "  was  his 
watch- word.  He  had  both  a  father's  ear  and  a  father's  heart  for 
the  afflicted  and  oppressed,  and  knew  just  what  to  say  when  one 
approached  him  for  counsel.  His  death-bed  was  a  scene  of  tri- 
umph, and  in  his  survey  of  life's  work  and  its  rewards  his  testi- 
mony was  :  "  I  am  not  disappointed." 

Rev.  William  Barnes  joined  the  Philadelphia  Conference  in 
1817.  He  was  an  Irishman  by  birth,  but  for  some  reason  re- 
fused to  be  called  one.  He  was  Mr.  Pitman's  colleague  at  St. 
George's,  when  several  of  the  city  churches  were  on  the  plan  of 
a  circuit.  "  He  was  a  man  of  great  vigor,  and  maintained  his 
vitality  and  activity  up  to  the  last,  though  he  died  over  eighty 
years  of  age.  In  private  life  and  in  the  social  circle  he  was  a 
perfect  specimen  of  an  Irish  gentleman;  but  in  the  pulpit  he  was 
like  a  stormy  tempest,  especially  when  under  great  excitement. 
He  had  a  hearty  hatred  of  the  Pope,  Romanism  and  the  Devil, 
and  generally  classed  them  together  and  treated  them  as  one  and 
the  same." 

Many  of  his  sermons  were  productions  of  sublime  grandeur, 
logical  force  and  high-wrought  eloquence.  His  descrip- 
tions of  Hell  and  the  Devil  were  so  terrible  that  even 
women  screamed  with  fear  and  affright,  •  and  ran  out  of  the 
house  where  he  was  preaching.  "  His  great  forte  in  preach- 
ing was  on  the  '  Divine  character  and  government,'  and  he 
excelled  all  other  men  in  our  connection  on  these  subjects. 
His  eloquence  blazed  with  light  and  burned  with  fire,  while 
his  audience  moved  like  a  field  of  grain  before  the  sweep  of  a 


220  LIFE  OF   REV.   CHARLES   PITMAN,   D.D. 

gale."  *  His  death  was  sudden,  but  iu  the  strongest  assurance 
of  immortality. 

Rev.  Joseph  Holdich,  D.  D.,  joined  the  Philadelphia  Confer- 
ence in  1822.  He  was  another  of  Mr.  Pitman's  colleagues,  and 
was  stationed  on  the  City  Circuit  in  Philadelphia  in  1825, 
as  one  of  the  assistants.  He  is  a  man  of  quiet  demeanor, 
inoffensive  in  manner  and  action,  a  Christian  gentleman  of 
the  highest  type  and  order,  an  able  preacher  and  expositor 
of  God's  word,  a  chaste  and  beautiful,  as  well  as  an  expressive 
and  lucid  writer,  and  has  produced  for  literature  some  of  its  most 
valuable  productions.  In  1834  he  was  transferred  to  the  New 
York  Conference,  of  which  he  is  now  a  member,  and  subsequently 
was  elected  Secretary  of  the  "American  Bible  Society,"  which 
position  he  has  most  satisfactorily  filled  for  over  a  quarter  of  a 
century.  His  life  has  been  fruitful  of  good  works,  and  his  la- 
bors crowned  with  the  greatest  good  to  the  Church  of  his  choice. 
He  still  lives  (April,  1887)  in  the  home  of  his  beloved  family, 
and  is  cared  for  by  all  the  tenderness  and  kindness,  an  affectionate 
family  can  bestow  on  high  parental  worthiness  and  distinguished 
Christian  character. 

Rev.  George  G.  Cookman  joined  the  Philadelphia  Conference 
in  1826.  He  joined  St.  George's  M.  E.  Church,  Philadelphia,' 
while  Mr.  Pitman  was  preacher  in  charge  of  the  Old  Philadel- 
phia Circuit,  in  1825,  he  having  lately  landed  in  America.  "He 
was  a  man  of  movement,  combined  with  a  spirit  of  energy.  His 
powers  of  perception  and  comparison  greatly  exceeded  his  powers 
of  imagination.  His  mind  was  more  affiliated  with  the  stirring, 
stern,  heroic  action,  and  with  the  forcible,  sublime  and  grand  in 
Nature,  than  with  the  soft,  tender  and  beautiful.  He  was  firm 
and  unchangeable  in  his  affections.  "With  a  heart  bursting  with 
emotion,  he  thus  gave  utterance  on  a  public  occasion  to  the 
strength  and  durability  of  his  affection  toward  the  amiable  and 
sainted  Dr.  Samuel  Baker,  of  Baltimore:  'May  my  poor  heart 
*  Fifty  Years'  Review  of  Philadephia  Conference.  P.  Combe.  P.  13. 


HIS   CONTEMPORARIES.  221 

pay  this  last  tribute  of  fond  affection  to  the  memory  of  him  who 
was  the  first  friend  I  made  in  this  city,  and  under  whose  hospi- 
table roof  was  the  first  home  I  found,  and  in  whose  society  I 
have  spent  many  a  precious  hour, — the  ornament  of  his  profes- 
sion, a  burning  and  shining  light,  a  pillar  in  God's  house.  He 
wiped  away  the  orphan's  falling  tear,  and  comforted  the  widow's 
broken  heart.' 

"As  a  minister  of  Christ,  he  was  accessible  in  his  intercourse 
with  all  classes  of  people,  ardent  in  Christian  temperament,  sin- 
cere, graphic,  and  powerful  in  his  pulpit  eloquence.  In  his  per- 
son he  was  slender,  about  the  medium  height  of  men,  without 
any  remarkable  or  strikingly  expressive  features.  His  forehead 
was  not  expansive,  nor  his  head  large ;  yet  his  eye  was  pene- 
trating, and  his  mouth  delicately  chiselled,  showed  the  outlines 
of  acuteness  and  decision.  His  nervous  force  and  active  mind 
perpetually  stirred  him  to  action,  'and  he  threw  his  whole  soul 
into  the  subject  of  his  addresses.  He  excelled  as  a  preacher,  but  it 
was  on  the  platform  that  he  was  pre-eminent/ 

"  He  was  an  Englishman  by  birth  and  education,  and,  after 
some  years  of  service  in  this  country,  started  on  a  visit  to  his 
native  land.  The  last  text  he  preached  from  here  in  his  adopted 
home  was  Rev.  xx.  11-13.  He  embarked  in  the  Steamship  Pres- 
ident from  New  York,  and  neither  he,  nor  the  ship  was  ever 
heard  from  again."  It  is  supposed  that  she  struck  an  ice- 
berg on  full  run,  and  went  down  with  nothing  left  to  tell  the 
tale.  Cookman  sleeps,  with  the  ocean  waters  as  his  winding 
sheet,  the  noble  steamship  his  sepulchre,  and  the  ocean  bed  his 
cemetery. 

Rev.  Joseph  Chattle  joined  the  Philadelphia  Conference  in 
1829.  He  was  a  sweet-spirited  man,  and  had  religion  both  in 
heart  and  face,  which,  like  the  face  of  Moses,  beamed  with  the 
glory  of  God.  He  was  one  of  the  devout  men  of  his  time,  live, 
active,  full  of  enthusiasm,  push  and  holy  courage.  He  was  a 
man  of  one  business,  and  felt  that  soul-saving  was  his  exclusive 


222  LIFE  OF  REV.   CHARLES   PITMAN,   D.D. 

calling.  He  generally  preached  short  sermons,  and  was  a  con- 
venient man  for  a  special  work.  He  knew  how  to  break  up 
new  ground  and  plant  the  church  where  it  might  take  a  good, 
firm  hold,  having  both  tact  and  endurance.  He  labored  hard 
to  secure  a  permanent  foundation  for  all  his  subsequent  work, 
and  a  number  of  flourishing  churches  in  New  Jersey  are  the 
monuments  of  his  toil  and  labor.  On  one  occasion,  when  he 
went  to  a  new  place,  no  one  invited  him  home  with  them  after 
he  had  preached,  and  consequently  he  had  no  place  of  enter- 
tainment. After  dismissing  the  congregation,  he  remained  in 
the  church  and  began  to  sing;  this  drew  to  him  the  attention  of 
a  strange  gentleman,  who  tendered  to  him  splendid  entertain- 
ment, with  ample  accommodations,  and  a  welcome  that  was 
always  proffered  thereafter.  He  filled  up  life's  work  well  in 
noble  activities  for  good,  and  at  last  received  the  commendation 
of  the  good  and  faithful  servant:  "Well  done!" 

Rev.  Daniel  Parrish  joined  the  Philadelphia  Conference  in 
/1821.  He  was  a  meek-spirited  child,  and  was  noted  for  his 
pious  turn  of  mind  in  early  life,  and  subsequently  was  converted 
before  reaching  manhood  years.  A  ministerial  brother  says  of 
him:  "Nature  dealt  liberally  with  him.  His  mind  was  well- 
balanced,  his  address  fluent,  his  style  elevated  and  generally 
correct,  and  his  sensibilities  formed  in  the  finest  mould.  His 
sympathies  yearned  for  the  common  weal  of  mankind.  He  was 
never  more  in  his  element  than  when  mingling  with,  and  minis- 
tering to  the  sick,  distressed  or  humble  poor.  His  heart  was  in 
every  good  work.  He  was  a  man  of  conscientiousness.  The 
calls  of  duty  he  obeyed,  as  he  understood  them,  and  left  the 
result  with  the  Lord." 

Another  ministerial  contemporary  says  of  him:  "He  was 
impressive  in  appearance,  manner  and  spirit.  He  had  a  ready 
utterance.  His  voice  was  full,  and  round,  and  highly  unctious. 
He  once  said  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Whitecar:  "I  am  at  home  in 
your  pulpit,"  and  at  another  time  said  :  "  I  wish  you  had  been 


HIS   CONTEMPORARIES.  223 

here  to-day  to  pray  for  me,  as  I  think  more  of  Methodist 
preachers'  prayers  than  I  do  of  their  criticisms."  In  1841  he 
was  stationed  in  Paterson,  the  second  year  of  his  ministerial 
term,  but  at  the  end  of  a  month  or  more  was  transferred  to  the 
Trenton  District,  made  vacant  by  Dr.  Pitman's  elevation  to  the 
missionary  secretaryship;  and  though  at  the  time  it  was  thought 
that  there  was  no  man  among  the  preachers  that  could  fill  Dr. 
Pitman's  place,  yet  in  parts  of  the  district  he  was  scarcely  less 
popular.  His  fervent  piety,  the  unction  that  attended  bis  min- 
istry, his  earnest  solicitude  for  the  church's  welfare  and  his 
agreeable  social  qualities  commended  him  to  general  favor,  and 
rendered  his  quarterly  visits  occasions  of  no  ordinary  interest. 
His  death  was  sudden.  He  passed  from  labor  to  reward,  in  the 
calm  and  peaceful  assurance  of  a  firm  trust  in  Christ. 

Rev.  Waters  Burroughs  joined  the  Philadelphia  Conference 
in  1816.  He  was  a  plain,  earnest,  devout  man,  of  tender  com- 
munication, friendly  in  manner  and  of  genial  influence.  His 
heart  and  his  face  were  always  bright,  light  and  cheerful.  Con- 
scientious in  all  that  he  did,  he  was  careful  in  his  expressions 
and  gentle  in  all  his  words.  He  loved  his  work  as  a  Christian 
minister,  and  to  him  it  was  a  luxury  to  do  good.  He  was  fond 
of  singing,  and  as  he  rode  through  the  Jersey  pines,  would  sing: 

"  Wave  your  tall  heads,  ye  lofty  pines, 
To  Him  who  bade  you  grow." 

He  was  anxious  to  know  if  his  kind  words  were  remembered 
by  those  to  whom  he  had  spoken  good  things,  and  on  one  occa- 
sion said  with  much  interest  and  emphasis,  to  his  old  friend  and 
ministerial  brother,  Rev.  Dr.  C.  H.  Whitecar:  "Have  you 
thought  of  what  I  told  you  some  years  ago?"  "Yes,"  replied 
his  friend,  "I  have  spoken  of  it  frequently,  and  of  you  at  my 
quarterly  meetings."  He  showed  great  sensibility  in  that  he 
was  not  forgotten.  He  was  an  honor  to  the  Church  and  an 
ornament  to  Methodism.  He  preached  by  his  life  as  well  as 


224  LIFE  OP  REV.   CHARLES   PITMAN,   D.D. 

by  his  voice,  and  was  exemplary  in  conduct  and  fervent  in  de-% 
votion,  always  at  his  post,  and  did  things  at  the  proper  time,  as 
well  as  in  their  proper  place.  He  died  as  he  lived,  with  the 
smiles  of  Heaven  beaming  upon  his  countenance  and  the  glory 
of  God  filling  his  soul. 

Rev.  Thomas  McCarroll  joined  the  Philadelphia  Conference 
in  the  spring  of  1829.  He  was  a  man  of  modest  presence, 
amiable  and  retiring,  thoughtful  and  earnest.  He  possessed  a 
sweet  spirit,  was  gentle,  loving  and  exceedingly  kind.  None  were 
wont  to  look  over  the  faults  of  others  and  forgive  more  than  he. 
He  was  above  anything  like  unmerited  censure,  or  unjust  re- 
proach. No  man  ever  cherished  a  greater  regard  and  higher 
esteem  for  his  ministerial  brethren  than  he,  and  this  extended 
from  the  highest  in  office  or  position,  down  to  the  lowest.  He 
was  of  an  exceedingly  sensitive  nature  and  of  deep  sympathies, 
and  this  led  to  great  aversion  to  injustice.  His  heart  was  often 
deeply  pained  and  afflicted,  with  an  almost  inconsolable  grief  at 
some  of  the  heated  discussions  in  our  Annual  Conference  over 
the  reception  of  men  who  had  been  adjudged  by  large  and  influ- 
ential Quarterly  Conferences,  as  proper  persons  to  enter  the  itin- 
erant ministry,  and  the  assailed  often  had  a  kind  "  friend  at 
court,"  who  would  pour  oil  on  the  troubled  waters,  and  by  a 
few  well-chosen  and  well-expressed  sentiments,  would  hush  the 
storm  into  a  "  Peace,  be  still,"  which  often  evoked  a  motion  that 
admitted  many  a  young  man  whose  fate  at  a  critical  moment 
hung  in  the  balance.  He  had  refined  oratorical  ornamentation 
in  his  manner  of  address.  He  was  always  clear,  forcible  and 
interesting.  He  had  a  mind  well  stored  with  Biblical  knowl- 
edge, and  read  the  Scriptures  fluently  in  their  original  languages. 
In  manners  he  was  kind,  courteous,  a  Christian  gentleman  of 
the  superlative  order,  and  possessed,  with  his  ministerial  stand- 
ing, that  true  dignity  which  belongs  to  the  office,  and  by  which 
he  gained  the  respect  and  confidence  of  all  with  whom  he  asso- 
ciated, and  without  which  the  moral  power  of  the  minister  is 


HIS   CONTEMPORARIES.  226 

greatly  prescribed,  and  he,  shorn  of  an  element  of  strength.  He 
was  eminently  successful  in  the  pastorate,  and  often  hundreds 
were  the  fruit  of  a  single  revival  period.  The  people  were 
charmed  with  his  earnestness,  and  seemed  to  believe  every  word 
he  uttered.  Sincerity  of  utterance  stamped  all  his  pulpit  min- 
istrations, and  was  a  distinguishing  characteristic  of  his  whole 
life.  As  a  Presiding  Elder,  he  was  of  the  highest  type,  and 
considered  a  model  for  that  office.  He  did  his  work  faithfully 
and  well,  died  a  credit  to  the  Church  and  an  honor  to  Method- 
ism. 

Rev.  Isaac  Winner,  D.D.,  joined  the  Philadelphia  Conference 
in  1822.  He  was  a  man  of  sterling  principles,  true  as  steel  and 
firm  as  an  adamant.  No  mountain  was  ever  more  deeply  set, 
or  had  a  firmer  hold  in  solid  earth,  to  bid  defiance  to  the  blasts 
of  northern  winds,  or  the  tempests  of  a  century,  than  was  Isaac 
Winner's  loyalty  and  rigid  firmness  to  the  doctrines  and  polity 
of  Methodism.  He  believed  what  he  said,  and  said  what  he 
believed,  and  asked  no  man  a  reason  for  his  own  opinion.  He 
acted  from  his  own  convictions,  after  thoughtful  and  careful 
deliberation,  and  when  fortified,  a  whole  Annual  Conference 
would  be  held  to  his  opinions.  He  was  masterly  in  argu- 
ment, mighty  in  debate  and  strong  in  his  conclusions.  There 
was  no  waste  of  words.  Every  stroke  he  made  he  put  the  nail 
in  a  sure  place,  and  clinched  it  firmly  with  an  additional  under- 
blow.  And  yet,  with  all  these  stern  characteristics  of  a  deter- 
mined and  resolute  mind,  he  was  courteous  and  kind,  tender  and 
loving  and  highly  respectful.  He  was  gentlemanly  in  his  inter- 
course with  brethren  and  respectful  to  men  of  the  world.  He 
loved  the  Church,  but  hated,  with  religious  hatred,  innovation 
upon  established  usages,  and  well-tried  and  well-settled  princi- 
ples. He  believed  in  the  doctrines  of  Methodism,  and  he  acted 
according  to  his  belief  and  convictions  in  their  defence.  Sin- 
cerity and  earnestness  stamped  every  act  of  his  life  and  seemed 
to  be  interwoven  into  the  very  texture  of  his  being.  As  a  pub- 
15 


226  LIFE   OF   REV.   CHARLES   PITMAN,    D.D. 

lie  speaker,  he  was  highly  impressive.  His  voice  was  deep,  and 
when  craned  up,  highly  sepulchral ;  his  nervous  force  was 
considerable  and  unusually  strong,  his  manner  solemn,  and  his 
whole  aspect  and  bearing  that  of  a  man  in  earnest,  and  ready  to 
die  for  his  faith.  His  preaching  was  clear  and  forcible*  abound- 
ing with  apt  illustrations  and  with  strong  logical  conclusions, 
which  made  him  both  attractive  and  popular.  He  was  a  cham- 
pion and  leader  in  the  Israel  of  God,  who  knew  no  surrender, 
but  who  inscribed  on  his  banner  of  warfare  against  the  hosts  of 
sin,  victory  or  death.  To  his  memory  the  Church  writes  the 
immortal  epitaph,  "Over  whom  the  second  death  hath  no 
power." 

Rev.  Sedgewick  Rusling  joined  the  Philadelphia  Conference 
in  1827.  He  was  one  of  the  preachers  on  the  West  Jersey  Dis- 
trict during  Mr.  Pitman's  term  of  Presiding  Eldership.  They 
were  very  intimate,  and  both  labored  hand  in  hand  at  camp- 
meetings  and  revival  occasions.  He  was  rather  tall  in  stature, 
and  of  medium  build,  well-proportioned  in  body,  a  fine  forehead, 
and  head  covered  with  beautiful  silver-sprinkled  hair.  His 
countenance  was  sunny  and  bright,  and  his  voice  as  sweet  and 
musical  in  its  intonations,  as  a  zephyr.  He  possessed  fine  social 
qualities,  and  won  to  himself  a  host  of  firm  and  fast  friends. 
Of  a  truth  it  may  be  said,  "  none  knew  him  but  to  love  him." 
He  had  great  moral  bearing,  godly  simplicity  and  expanded 
benevolence.  The  poor  always  found  him  a  valuable  friend,  and 
the  rich  appreciated  his  goodness  ;  even  the  wicked  and  profane 
accorded  to  him  real  religion  in  heart.  He  had  a  well-trained 
musical  voice,  and  was  a  sweet,  as  well  as  an  effective,  singer, 
and  from  no  man's  lips  did  our  Methodist  melodies  come  forth 
with  a  richer  strain,  than  from  the  lips  of  this  earnest  man  of 
God,  and  so  great  was  its  effect  that  whole  audiences  would  be 
lifted  into  rapture  by  him.  He  was  powerful  in  exhortation, 
and  when  in  a  revival  service,  or  at  a  camp-meeting,  where  his 
soul  would  seem  to  take  fire,  he  would  rouse  the  energies  and 


HIS  CONTEMPORARIES.  227 

stir  the  hearts  of  thousands  and  induce  scores  of  souls  to  come 
to  Christ.  His  exhortations  at  those  times  were  considered  of 
more  direct  advantage  to  the  interests  and  objects  of  the  meeting 
than  many  of  the  sermons.  His  preaching  was  practical,  always 
good ;  it  abounded  with  incident,  and  was  rich  in  illustration. 
He  had  the  happy  faculty  of  getting  the  attention  of  the  audi- 
ence and  keeping  it  to  the  close  of  his  sermon.  This,  with  the 
natural  gush  and  emotion  of  feeling  that  was  perceptible  in 
every  step  he  took,  from  the  commencement  to  the  close  of  his 
discourse,  and  his  yearning  desire  for  the  salvation  of  souls, 
enabled  him  to  lead  multitudes  heavenward.  His  ministry  was 
an  exceedingly  fruitful  one,  and  thousands  of  souls  were  won  to 
Christ,  and  the  Church  greatly  benefited,  enlarged  and  abund- 
antly blessed.  He  died  at  Rahway,  N.  J.,  in  the  triumphs  of  a 
glorious  immortality,  giving  the  most  emphatic  assurances  of 
his  faith,  and  that  he  was  saved  through  the  atonement  of 
Christ. 

Rev.  Thomas  G.  Stewart  joined  the  Philadelphia  Conference 
in  1830.  He  was  a  remarkable  man,  and  in  some  sense  a  sin- 
gular one.  Earnest,  tender,  moving  and  highly  emotional,  his 
whole  nature  was  absorbed  in  his  work,  and  he  moved  upon  the 
hearts  of  the  people  as  heated  sunbeams  on  ice  and  snow,  and 
they  melted  before  him.  Revival  labors  were  the  chief  or  dis- 
tinguishing characteristic  of  his  work,  and  it  is  said  that  he 
received  into  the  Church  about  five  thousand  souls,  and  the  per- 
sonal piety  of  Christians  was  greatly  advanced  by  his  godly 
life  and  admonitions.  In  all  his  appointments,  he  made  great 
and  marked  spiritual  improvement  among  the  membership. 
Singing  was  one  of  the  strongest  agencies  of  his  success.  The 
old  preachers  sang  in  the  public  and  social  services,  and  this 
encouraged  congregational  singing  and  enthused  the  people  and 
the  services,  and  thereby  drew  the  attention  of  the  masses.  It 
is  neceasary  to  the  success  of  Methodism  that  this  custom  con- 
tinue amongst  us.  Charles  Pitman  used  to  sing,  "  Hear  the 


228  LIFE   OF   REV.    CHARLES   PITMAN,   D.D. 

royal  proclamation "  and  "  I  am  bound  for  the  kingdom." 
Joseph  Rnsling  sang  with  peculiar  tenderness  and  emotion, 
"  Young  people  all  attention  give,"  which  often  produced  equal 
if  not  greater,  effect,  than  a  sermon,  and  Thomas  G.  Steward 
would  sing,  with  almost  seraphic  sweetness,  "  Come,  let  us  join 
our  hearts  and  hands,"  etc.  This  was  a  favorite  hymn  with 
him,  and  also  with  his  devoted  wife,  and  at  the  close  of  a  service 
he  would  get  the  people  to  join  hands  and  to  sing  it  under  his 
leadership,  and  often  the  singing  would  be  attended  with  great 
and  unctious  power.  His  deathbed  scene  was  one  of  triumphant 
joy.  He  died  exclaiming,  "  All  is  well !  I  shall  have  an 
abundant  entrance  into  the  everlasting  kingdom  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ." 

Rev.  Caleb  A.  Lippincott,  to  whom  brief  allusion  has  been 
made  in  a  preceding  chapter,  joined  the  Philadelphia  Conference 
in  1830,  and  was  of  the  same  class  as  Edmund  S.  Janes  (after- 
wards Bishop),  William  A.  Wilmer,  Jefferson  Lewis,  Joseph  Ash- 
brook,  Josiah  F.  Canfield  and  John  L.  Lenhart.  In  person  he  was, 
in  the  fullest  sense,  a  finely-developed  man.  His  form  was  tall 
and  erect,  much  above  the  average  height  of  men.  His  frame 
was  muscular  and  of  strong,  stout,  sturdy  bone,  well-compacted 
and  well-proportioned,  with  a  remarkably  full  development  of 
muscle  and  ligamentary  strength,  and  the  whole  well-cushioned 
with  healthy  flesh.  His  hair  was  of  sandy  hue,  his  complexion 
light  and  pinky.  His  eye  was  of  a  light  grayish  color,  round, 
keen  and  full  of  fire.  His  face  was  full  and  round ;  his  mouth 
broad,  thin-lipped,  and  the  whole  contour  of  his  countenance 
expressed  firmness  and  decision  of  purpose  and  character,  and 
when  animated  with  pleasant  impressions,  flashed  smiles  of 
peculiar  loveliness,  but  when  the  destiny  of  a  soul  on  the  verge 
of  ruin  was  the  theme,  no  countenance  of  man  ever  depicted 
greater  earnestness  or  intensity  of  interest  for  its  salvation  than 
his  did.  In  manner  he  was  bold  and  earnest,  impetuous  and 
impassioned ;  in  speech  fluent  and  rapid ;  in  figure  and  compar- 


HIS   CONTEMPORARIES.  229 

ison  sublime.     His  voice  was  strong,  and  clear,  and  soft  as  the 
sound  of  a  silver  bell,  which  he  could  ring  like  the  notes  of  a 
clarion,  and  without  exhaustion  or  weariness  ;   and  when  keyed 
up  to  its  high  pitch  could  be  heard,  some  said,  for  miles.     He 
held   vast   congregations,    stirred   ministers    from    their   seats, 
wrapped  whole  audiences  into  a  consternation  of  feeling,  bap- 
tized saints  with  tears  (which  expressed  the  emotions  that  stirred 
within  them),  and  caused  the  ungodly  to  quail  and  tremble  before 
a  scene,  which   he   held   before   them,  of  the  doom  of  a  lost 
soul.     In  his  sermons  he  was  plain  and  practical,  following  out 
the  natural  .ideas  suggested  by  the  text  in  a  sort  of  didactic  or 
descriptive  manner,  until  he  came  to  a  point  where  his  capacious 
mind  seemed  to  propose  a  sweep,  and  then,  with  a  comparison, 
an  incident,  a  picture,  or  some  circumstances  of  religious  exper- 
ience which  would  be  suggested  to  his  sanctified  imagination,  he 
would,  with  the  brilliancy  of  a  comet's  flash  and  sweep,  portray 
in  the  most  sublime,  touching,  tender  manner,  the  event  or  cir- 
cumstance, occupying  often  from  fifteen  minutes  to  a  half-hour, 
and   would   hold   his   audience,   in   deep   silence,    with    bated 
breath  and  suppressed  emotion,  until  he  reached  the  climax,  and 
this,  with  a  few  additional  remarks,  very  frequently  closed  his 
sermon.     But  in  exhortation,  he  was  more  than  even  the  great 
men  of  the  times,  and  a  camp-meeting  occasion  was  his  favorite 
field  for  a  death-grapple,  and  in  this  struggle,  victory  or  death 
flashed  from  his  shield  and  flamed  from  his  brow,  and  many  a 
lance  did  our  noble  knight  break,  and  many  a  strong  shield  did 
he  shiver,  and  bring  his  contestant  to  the  foot  of  the  cross,  in 
his  contests  with  the  powers  of  darkness.     Few  men  have  had 
such  a  record  of  success  as  he  had  in  the  time  and  limits  of  his 
ministry.     Within  two  successive  years  over  two  thousand  souls 
were  converted.     This  was  the  man  whom  Mr.  Pitman  directed 
Rev.  John  Street,  (who  had  temporary  charge  of  St.  George's 
pulpit  during  the  great  revival  there  in  1836-37),  to  secure  when 
he  said,  mentioning  his  name  as  the  first  one,  "get  Caleb  A.  Lip- 
pincott,"  (then  stationed  at  Germantown),  "  to  come  and  help  us." 


230  LIFE  OP  REV.   CHARLES  PITMAN,   D.D. 

Rev.  Joseph  Lybrand  joined  the  Philadelphia  Conference  in 
1811,  when  only  eighteen  years  of  age,  and  gave  thirty-three 
years  of  his  active  life  to  the  ministry,  belonging  both  in  the 
Philadelphia  and  New  Jersey  conferences.  He  was  Mr.  Pit- 
man's successor  at  St.  George's  after  the  great  revival,  1837-38, 
and,  it  was  said,  no  man  in  the  Philadelphia  Conference  was 
better  qualified,  or  more  adapted  to  the  exigencies  of  that  work, 
at  that  time,  than  Mr.  Lybrand.  He  was  warmly  welcomed  to 
the  church,  and  at  once  entered  into  the  spirit-stirring  scenes 
which  had  characterized  it  for  the  past  two  years. 

In  social  character,  Mr.  Lybrand  was  peculiarly  favored. 
Well-regulated  cheerfulness,  combined  with  becoming  sobriety, 
breathed  in  his  spirit.  In  conversation  he  was  alike  attentive 
and  respectful  to  others,  and  intelligent  and  earnest  in  his  own 
communications. 

He  was  of  fine  commanding  appearance  in  the  pulpit  as  else- 
where. He  was  a  preacher  of  unusually  brilliant  attainments, 
of  great  spirituality  and  power,  and  would  often  become  so  ab- 
sorbed and  wrapped  up  in  his  theme  as  to  be  oblivious  to  all 
that  was  around  him. 

Rev.  Dr.  Kennaday  pays  this  high  tribute  of  respect  and 
admiration  to  his  abilities  and  qualifications  as  a  minister  :  "  Of 
the  many  sermons  I  have  heard  him  preach,  I  do  not  remember 
one  that  was  deficient  in  logical  structure,  impassioned  appeal  or 
chaste  and  beautiful  illustration.  In  variety,  richness  and 
appropriateness  of  language  I  do  not  think  that  I  ever  heard 
him  excelled.  His  voice  possessed  great  compass,  and  was  round^ 
full,  and  susceptible  of  the  most  tender  modulations.  His  themes 
were  highly  evangelical,  and  were  equally  interesting  to  the  most 
erudite  and  the  most  uncultivated  hearer.  His  popularity  was 
far  from  being  the  result  of  any  course  of  effort  to  secure  popu- 
larity. He  never  lost  that  simplicity  which  always  forms  one  of 
the  loveliest  attributes  of  the  Christian  life.  He  regarded  the 
revealed  truth  of  God's  word,  as  the  great  instrument  of  man's 


HIS  CONTEMPORARIES.  231 

salvation,  and  felt  that  the  pulpit  was  trifled  with,  and  be- 
trayed, when  it  was  made  the  arena  of  political  strife,  or  the 
medium  of  anything  else  of  a  mere  secular  nature.  His  minis- 
try was  abundantly  fruitful  in  leading  souls  to  Christ,  and  estab- 
lishing believers  in  the  faith  of  the  Gospel.  His  death  was 
sudden ;  he  passed  in  a  moment  from  earth  and  was  welcomed 
by  the  angels  to  the  throne  of  God.  '  His  memory  is  fragrant 
on  earth,  but  his  record  is  in  heaven.' ' 

Rev.  Thomas  Sovereign  joined  the  Philadelphia  Conference 
in  1827,  and  his  first  appointment  was  junior  preacher  in  Bur- 
lington Circuit,  while  Mr.  Pitman  was  Presiding  Elder  of  West 
Jersey  District.  In  person  he  is  tall  and  heavy,  and  moves 
with  care  and  measured  step.  He  has  quite  a  growth  of  white, 
silvery  hair,  which  was  formerly  of  a  darker  hue ;  his  beard 
hangs  gracefully  upon  his  chest,  being  more  than  a  foot  long, 
giving  him  the  contour  of  "Abraham  of  old,"  and  quite 
a  patriarchal  appearance ;  his  eye  is  quick  and  keen,  and  his 
ear  is  so  well  trained,  that  he  will  at  once  detect  a  mispronounced 
word,  or  a  violation  of  our  English  construction  of  language ; 
his  forehead  indicates  superior  intelligence,  and  his  visage  pre- 
sents all  the  qualities  of  a  finished  literary  gentleman.  In  his 
earlier  life  he  took  an  active  part  in  the  Temperance  movement, 
and  was  one  of  its  most  noble  and  heroic  champions.  Traveling 
from  place  to  place,  he  would  preach  in  the  churches  Sabbath 
morning  and  evening,  and  address  the  masses  in  the  afternoon 
from  some  convenient  place  in  the  public  street  on  the  evils  of 
intemperance.  He  was  an  able  lecturer,  and  was  listened  to  with 
great  reverence  and  respect.  He  compiled  a  Temperance  spelling- 
book  and  introduced  it  into  our  common-schools  as  early  as  1 838 
or  1840.  He  spent  the  evenings  of  the  week  in  lecturing  all  through 
the  remote  parts  of  New  Jersey,  and  performed  these  journeys, 
mostly  on  foot,  and  during  that  period  no  man  took  a  more 
active  interest  or  labored  more  indefatigably  in  the  cause  of  the 
temperance  reform  than  did  Thomas  Sovereign. 


232  LIFE   OF   REV.    CHARLES   PITMAN,   D.D. 

He  served  the  Conference  very  acceptably  and  efficiently  as 
Presiding  Elder  for  several  years,  and  was  known  as  an  able 
and  wise  administrator,  a  judicious  counselor  and  a  faithful 
officer  in  the  discharge  of  all  his  duties.  As  a  preacher  he 
ranked  among  the  first  class  for  his  loyalty  and  adherence  to 
both  Methodist  doctrine  and  polity,  and  in  manner  of  address, 
for  correctness  of  expression,  for  systematic  arrangement  of  his 
sermons,  none  surpassed  him,  and  though  barren  in  the  adorn- 
ment of  rhetorical  finish  and  of  sprightly  figurative  expression, 
yet,  nevertheless,  they  were  logical  and  strongly  argumentative 
in  their  character,  and  were  appreciated  for  their  distinctness  of 
perception  and  soundness  of  reasoning.  Mr.  Sovereign  served 
on  both  of  Mr.  Pitman's  districts  in  New  Jersey,  and  to  him  and 
his  colleague  is  due  much  of  the  honor  in  the  extension  of  Meth- 
odism in  New  Jersey.  Many  of  the  places  and  towns  which  now 
have  active  and  flourishing  churches  had  their  first  Methodist 
sermon  preached  by  Thomas  Sovereign.  -  His  name  has  been 
identified  with  New  Jersey  Methodism  longer  than  any  other 
man  now  living,  and  he  is  the  oldest  living  minister  in  the  Con- 
ference— now  crowding  well  on  to  eighty-seven  years.  He 
served  the  interests  of  the  Sanitary  Commission  during  the  late 
war,  and  traveled  over  the  state,  visiting  the  Sabbath-schools  and 
enlisting  the  donation  of  a  penny  from  every  Sunday-school  scholar, 
the  aggregate  of  which  amounted  to  thousands  of  dollars,  which 
were  paid  into  the  Treasury  of  the  Commission,  and  aided  our  sick 
and  disabled  soldiers.  He  was  also  for  a  period  of  time  agent  for 
Dickinson  College,  and  did  much  valuable  and  successful  work 
for  that  Institution,  and  was  a  member  of  the  famous  General 
Conference  of  1844  at  the  time  of  the  division  of  the  M.  E. 
Church.  Honored,  respected  and  revered,  his  name  will  be 
remembered  for  generations  by  the  households  whom  he  has 
baptized  with  his  presence  and  blessing.  He  still  lives  (June, 
1887,)  but  feels  the  weight  of  years  pressing  heavily  upon  him. 
He  will  hail  the  summons  when  it  comes  for  him  to  pass  "  the 


HIS   CONTEMPORARIES.  233 

bourne  from  which  no  traveler  returns,"  and  having  filled  life's 
duties  well,  with  noble  activities  for  God  and  the  Church,  he 
will  reap  a  glorious  harvest  of  reward  in  his  Heavenly  Father's 
kingdom  forever. 

Rev.  Jefferson  Lewis,  D.  D.,  now  living,  joined  the  Philadel- 
phia Conference  in  1830.  In  person  he  is  tall  and  slender,  not 
of  a  robust  nature,  but  has  a  quick,  elastic  step,  and  is  sure- 
footed. His  hair,  once  dark,  now  shows  the  frosts  of  over  eighty 
winters,  and  is  of  a  silken  white,  hanging  gracefully  over  his 
brow  and  extending  backward.  His  face  is  spare,  always  cleanly 
shaven,  and  mostly  beaming  with  a  profusion  of  smiles.  His 
eye  deep  and  penetrating,  and  of  a  slight  brownish  color.  He 
has  thin  lips,  denoting  firmness ;  a  good  voice  for  either  public 
address  or  general  conversation.  In  dress  he  is  neat  and  tidy, 
and  suits  his  taste  in  garments  becoming  his  age  and  position  in 
life.  In  manners  he  is  a  perfect  gentleman,  and  exceedingly  po- 
lite and  respectful  to  all  classes,  and  is  noted  for  his  high  regard 
and  deference  paid  to  women  ;  retiring  in  disposition  and  unu- 
sually gentle  in  all  his  intercourse  with  society,  chaste  in  all  his 
words,  and  pure  in  all  his-  forms  of  speech,  he  has  a  warm  hand, 
a  kind  spirit,  and  a  generous  and  benevolent  heart  towards  all. 
He  has  no  enemies  :  for  if  he  was  conscious  that  he  had  wronged 
any  one,  he  would  on  first  opportunity  make  an  appropriate  con- 
cession and  apology  for  it ;  and  if  any  one  had  ever  done  him 
an  injury,  he  would  as  freely  forgive  the  offender  as  he  would 
seek  forgiveness  for  his  own  faults ;  and  he  conscientiously  acts 
upon  the  petition  in  our  Lord's  prayer,  "  Forgive  us  our  tres- 
passes as  we  forgive  those  who  trespass  against  us."  He  is  an 
embodiment  of  true  Christian  manliness,and  an  illustrious  type 
of  a  godly,  straight-forward,  unwavering  Christian.  In  all  his 
habits  he  is  methodical;  in  his  plans,  deliberate  and  conscien- 
tious ;  and  in  his  judgment,  well-matured  and  decided.  As  a 
preacher,  he  is  clear,  plain,  pointed  and  practical ;  seldom,  if  ever, 
embellishes  his  sermons  with  either  the  flowers  of  rhetoric,  or  the 


234  LIFE  OP  REV.   CHARLES   PITMAN,   D.D. 

exuberance  of  poetical  delineation,  or  the  gilded  fancies  of  ima- 
ginary illumination,  but  says  things  which  the  people  can  under- 
stand without  a  Lexicon,  and  always  uses  good,  stout,  sturdy, 
old  Saxon  terms  and  words.  He  instructs  more  than  he  dazzles  ; 
enlightens  rather  than  confounds ;  always  has  a  solid  foundation, 
and  builds  up  out  of  good,  solid  material  a  superstructure  that 
can  stand  storm  and  tempest.  In  executive  ability  he  takes  rank 
with  the  princes  in  the  Church,  and  is  a  walking  encyclopedia  of 
Methodistic  theology  and  Church  polity.  Wonderfully  retentive 
in  memory,  he  has  the  whole  history  of  both  Church  and  nation 
at  command,  and  can  give  you  day  and  date  of  all  important 
transactions  and  events  of  both.  He  is  strong  in  debate,  clear 
and  logical  in  his  conclusions,  bold,  incisive  and  thorough  in  ar- 
gument ;  possessing  a  remarkably  keen  sense  of  what  is  right,  he 
has  an  equal  aversion  to  what  is  wrong,  and  hates  with  a  religious 
hatred  all  oppression,  dishonesty,  or  anything  that  is  base  and 
despicable.  He  has  all  the  elements  of  a  noble  character,  a  well- 
disciplined  life,  and  is  a  model  of  Christian  philanthropy  and 
wide-spread  charity,  to  whom  Charles  Pitman  turned  as  a 
wise  counsellor,  a  true  friend,  and  a  warm-hearted  Christian 
brother. 

Dr.  Lewis  served  with  great  efficiency  two  full  terms  in  the 
office  of  Presiding  Elder  in  his  Conference,  and  was  honored  as 
a  representative  in  three  General  Conferences ;  was  one  of  the 
founders,  and  for  a  number  of  years  a  Trustee  of  Pennington 
Seminary,  and  also  .of  Dickinson  College,  and  was  honored  by 
that  institution  with  the  title  of  "  Doctor  of  Divinity,"  and  has 
been  one  of  the  foremost  men  in  his  Conference  in  the  cause  of 
Christian  education  and  the  aggressive  interests  of  the  Church, 
both  in  New  Jersey  and  elsewhere ;  and  now,  in  the  decline  and 
serenity  of  life,  is  honored,  beloved  and  respected  by  thousands 
of  people  all  over  our  country. 

Rev.  Charles  H.  Whitecar,  D.D.,  now  living,  joined  the  Phil- 
adelphia Conference  in  1835.  In  person  he  is  slightly  under 


HIS  CONTEMPORAKIES.  235 

medium  height,  of  small  bone,  and  of  slender  build,  but  com- 
pact in  all  his  parts,  he  possesses  an  encephalic  temperament, 
and  is  remarkably  kind  and  genial  in  his  nature,  having  an  ex- 
cellent nervous  organization,  and  is  well  threaded  through  his 
system  with  a  good  supply  of  tendons  and  ligaments.  He  sur- 
prises strangers  with  his  wonderful  powers  of  endurance  and 
capabilities  of  labor,  and  can  preach  three  superior  and  elabor- 
ate sermons  on  Sabbath,  and  attend  to  all  the  incidental  services 
and  duties  of  a  quarterly  meeting  occasion  without  varying  in 
either  his  degree  of  zeal,  mental  force,  or  intellectual  energy. 
So  much  so,  that  his  last  service  of  a  day  of  labor  has  often  been 
said  to  equal  in  interest,  elucidation  and  practical  effect,  the 
first.  His  head,  is  of  a  beautiful  and  symmetrical  shape,  thickly 
covered  with  a  growth  of  exuberant  black  and  slightly  greyish 
hair,  which  is  wavy  and  lustrous,  and  hanging  in  neat  folds 
over  the  back  part  of  the  head.  There  is  in  his  forehead  a 
noticeable  degree  of  intellectuality,  and  his  facial  organs  show 
some  considerable  prominence  ;  his  eyes  are  dark  and  at  times, 
when  animated,  fly  wide  open,  with  a  glare  of  amazement  and 
wonderful  expression.  His  lips  are  thin  and  are  moved  with  re- 
markable flexibility  when  engaged  in  public  address,  and  his 
mouth  seems  to  be  specially  adapted  to  the  utterance  of  beautiful 
sentences.  His  voice  has  an  indescribable  sweetness,  distinguished 
for  its  melody,  and  remarkably  noticeable  for  its  fluency.  Its 
cadences  roll  to  every  part  of  the  place  where  he  may  be  speak- 
ing, and  at  the  farthest  part  of  it  you  can  hear  as  distinctly  as 
those  near  at  hand.  It  is  soft  and  deep  in  its  character,  and  is 
artificially  modulated  to  suit  the  varying  changes  or  phases  of 
his  theme  or  discourse.  His  manner  is  exceedingly  pleasant 
and  attractive,  and  he  seldom  fails  to  engage  the  attention  of  his 
hearers  at  the  very  commencement  of  the  services.  His  diction 
is  of  a  superior  order,  and  the  purity  of  his  style,  indicates  his 
fine  taste  as  a  literary  gentleman,  as  well  as  his  endowment  of 
spiritual  qualities.  He  has  a  fine,  well-disciplined  imagination, 


236  LIFE  OF  REV.   CHARLES  PITMAN,   D.D. 

a  highly-cultured  poetic  fancy,  and  throws  into  his  discourses  a 
rich  and  brilliant  imagery.  Everything  along  the  walks  of  lit- 
erature he  touches  he  makes  bright  and  beautiful,  and  can  use  a 
poetic  quotation,  sketch  a  picture,  or  illustrate  an  idea,  with  both 
marked  and  telling  effect,  and  all  his  illustrations  and  pictures  of 
fancy,  or  of  real  life,  are  painted  with  a  freedom  of  outline,  and 
embellished  with  a  richness  of  coloring,  which  is  peculiar  to  him, 
and  is  the  talent  that  is  given  to  but  few.  He  can  draw  scenes  of 
descriptive  imagery  from  land,  ocean,  continent,  or  globe,  moun- 
tain, lake  or  river,  meadow,  hill  or  plain,  heaven,  earth  or  hell, 
but  his  happiest  experiences  are  found  in  what  illustrates  Chris- 
tian life  and  character,  and  the  grand  remedial  agency  which 
God  has  employed  to  save  the  world.  Dr.  Whitecar  is  a  natural- 
born  orator,  and  oratory  comes  as  natural  to  him  as  music  to  a 
musician,  or  poetry  to  a  poet.  His  gestures  are  chaste,  reverent, 
and  always  impressive,  and  there  is  no  appearance  of  labored  or 
studied  art  in  his  manner  ;  all  is  free  and  easy,  as  the  sweep  of  an 
JEolian  harp,  or  the  descent  of  a  beautiful  waterfall  over  a  well- 
worn  and  smooth  rocky  surface,  and  yet  it  is  not  monotonous, 
for  it  has  just  a  sufficient  number  of  ascents  and  descents,  to 
give  it  a  splendid  variety,  and  a  commingling  of  all  the  happy 
combinations  of  good  speech.  In  manner,  Dr.  Whitecar  is 
courteous  and  kind ;  possessing  an  affable  and  genial  nature,  he 
has  a  kind  heart  and  a  warm  hand,  and  is  possessed  of  enlarged 
sympathies  and  unbounded  benevolence  ;  he  would  rather  err  on 
the  side  of  mercy  a  thousand  times,  than  unjustly  inflict  punish- 
ment on  the  innocent  in  a  single  instance.  In  ministerial  bear- 
ing and  character  he  has  always  been  regarded  as  a  model  of 
sobriety,  gentleness  and  goodness,  while  his  superior  Christian 
character  has  always  designated  him,  as  a  man  of  pure  thought, 
chaste  words,  and  sanctified  purposes  ;  having  a  clean  heart,  he 
has  clean  lips,  and  a  pure  tongue.  In  his  social  qualities,  he  is  a 
gentleman  of  the  highest  type  and  finish,  polite  even  to  the  ex- 
treme, and  forgets  not  to  thank  a  person  for  the  most  insig- 


HIS   CONTEMPORARIES.  237 

nificant  favor.  Among  all  sexes  and  classes  he  is  regarded  with 
great  deference,  and  high  esteem  ;  loving  and  beloved  he  is  re- 
ceived as  a  brother,  messenger,  visitor  or  friend,  into  the  fami- 
lies and  homes  of  Christian  people  with  delight  and  honor.  As 
a  preacher,  he  is  able,  scholarly  and  profound,  elaborating  his 
discourses  to  an  extent  that  seems  to  exhaust  all  that  could  be 
said  upon  the  subject,  and  is  neither  prolix  nor  wearisome.  His 
manner  and  mode  of  address  is  beautiful,  and  his  presentation 
of  gospel  truth,  is  in  an  ornamented  and  highly  embellished 
style.  "  He  is  a  stone  polished  after  the  similitude  of  a  palace." 
Sometimes  abounding  in  tropes  and  figures,  that  dazzle  with 
their  beauty  and  captivate  with  their  charms,  and  then  sailing 
out  into  the  realm  of  strong  argument,  he,  like  a  skillful  gen- 
eral on  a  battle-field;  will  marshal  his  forces  and  close  in  upon 
his  antagonist,  with  as  much  surprise  to  the  defeated  as  certainty 
of  victory  to  the  conqueror,  and  yet  in  all  this  he  is  as  compact  in 
wisdom  and  clear  in  his  concentration  of  thought,  as  the  most 
erudite  philosopher  of  the  past  ages,  or  the  profouudest  lin- 
guist of  the  present  order  of  schoolmen.  To  sum  up  all  in  a 
single  paragraph.  For  correctness  and  beauty  of  style,  for  scien- 
tific accuracy  in  delineation  and  argument,  for  adherence  to  the 
rules  of  rhetorical  address,  for  elegance  in  diction  and  classical 
taste,  for  strict  regard  to  the  rules  and  the  principles  of  Scrip- 
tural exegesis,  Dr.  Charles  H.  Whitecar  is  a  prince  and  peer. 
He  was  contemporary  with  Dr.  Pitman,  labored  with  him  at 
camp-meetings  and  in  revivals,  preached  in  the  same  pulpit, 
succeeded  him  in  ministerial  appointment,  was  associated  with 
him  in  conference  work,  and  was  his  life-long  friend  and 
brother  through  all  his  ministerial  cares,  and  Mr.  Pitman  ac- 
corded to  him  the  honor  of  being  the  "  St.  John  the  divine,  of 
the  New  Jersey  Conference." 

Dr.  Whitecar  served  very  efficiently  on  three  districts  in  his 
Conference  as  Presiding  Elder,  was  a  member  of  the  memor- 
able General  Conference  in  1864,  and  was  for  several  years  a 


238  LIFE   OF   REV.   CHARLES   PITMAN,    D.D. 

member  of  the  Missionary  Board  of  the  M.  E.  Church  ;  also  of 
the  Church  Extension  Society,  and  for  a  number  of  years  a  trustee 
of  Dickinson  College,  and  was  honored  by  that  institution  with  the 
title  of  "  Doctor  of  Divinity,"  in  1876.  Was  also  one  of  the 
founders  and  trustees  of  Pennington  Seminary,  and  now,  after 
a  long  life  of  valuable  service  to  the  church,  he  lives  honored  as 
one  of  the  Fathers.  Is  well  preserved  in  physical  organism 
and  with  no  perceptible  mark  of  decay  either  in  mind  or  body, 
but  retains  his  vigor  and  preaches  with  unabated  interest  and 
energy,  and  is  welcomed  to  all  the  pulpits  within  the  bounds  of 
our  Methodism. 

Time  and  space  prohibit  us  from  adding  farther  to  this  glo- 
rious list  of  trained  warriors  for  Immanuel's  cause,  the  noble 
band  and  heroic  contemporaries  of  their  grand  martial  leader, 
Rev.  Charles  Pitman ;  but  we  must  be  permitted  to  add  a  few 
names  to  the  honored  list,  which  possessed  similar  and  like 
characteristics  with  those  we  have  already  described,  and  were 
more  or  less,  near  or  remotely  connected  with  the  grand  work 
of  laying  the  foundations  of  Methodism  in  this,  and  her  sister 
State,  Pennsylvania,  and  among  whom,  to  be  remembered  are 
Rev'ds  Thomas  Ware,  James  Campbell,  Thomas  Neal,  Joseph 
Rusling,  John  K.  Shaw,  John  S.  Porter;  James  H.  Dandy, 
Edward  H.  Stout,  Joseph  Osborne,  Samuel  Dougherty,  James 
Moore,  Daniel  Fidler,  James  Long,  Bartholomew  Weed,  "  Doc- 
tor Billy  Williams,"  Jacob  Gruber,  T.  J.  Thompson,  Anthony 
Atwood  (now  living),  Charles  T.  Ford,  Thomas  B.  Sargent, 
l)avid  Bartine,  Sr.,  James  Smith,  Sr.,  Thomas  Christopher, 
Henry  G.  King,  John  F.  Crouch,  Abraham  Gearheart,  Law- 
rence Lawrenson,  Curtis  Talley,  Matthew  Sorin,  George  Lane, 
Solomon  Higgins,  Henry  White,  John  L.  Lenhart,  Robert 
Gerry,  William  Roberts  (now  living),  Lawrence  McCombs, 
Peter  Vannest,  William  McCombs,  David  Daily,  Levi  Storkes, 
William  A.  Wiggins,  William  Cooper,  William  Thatcher,  Jo- 
seph J.  Sleeper,  John  Findley,  James  McLaurin,  John  Wools- 


HIS  CONTEMPORARIES.  239 

ton,  Eliphalet  Reed,  William  Lumis,  Thomas  Davis,  John 
Ledmun,  Jacob  Egbert,  Nathan  Swain,  Joseph  Ashbrook,  Jo- 
siah  F.  Canfield,  John  L.  Lenhart,  Abraham  K.  Street  (now 
living),  Francis  A.  Morrell,  Wesley  Kenney,  R.  E.  Morrison, 
George  A.  Raybold,  J.  N.  Crane,  J.  S.  Swaim,  Mathias  Ger- 
man, J.  W.  McDougall. 

And  with  these  in  the  ministry,  what  an  uncounted  multitude 
of  laymen  who  have  gone  up  from  the  wave-washed  shores  of 
Cape  May,  where  borders  the  vast,  deep,  blue  sea,  to  the  lofty 
granite  heights  of  the  Blue  Ridge  in  Pennsylvania;  from  the 
magnificent  sweep  of  the  Chesapeake,  to  the  sand-bound  beach 
of  the  Atlantic,  ascribing  salvation  to  God  and  the  Lamb  for- 
ever, that  through  the  aid  of  the  gospel  ministrations  of  these 
ministers  of  Christ,  many  of  whom  are  now  numbered  with  the 
saints  of  God,  they  too  have  found  that  blessed  land  of  rest, 
that  home  of  immortal  light  and  love, 

"  Where  congregations  ne'er  break  up, 
And  Sabbaths  have  no  end," 

and  have  added  to  the  multiplied  lists  of  the  redeemed  millions 
who  have  been  saved  through  the  atoning  mercy  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  and  have  joined  with  the  heavenly  throng  in  as- 
cribing universal  praise  to  Christ,  saying :  "  Unto  him  that 
loved  us,  and  washed  us  from  our  sins  in  his  own  blood,  and 
hath  made  us  kings  and  priests  unto  God,  and  his  Father ;  to 
him  be  glory  and  dominion  for  ever  and  ever.  Amen." 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

EXPIRATION    OP    THE    TERM    OF    DR.    PITMAN'S    MISSIONARY 

SECRETARYSHIP. — HEALTH   GIVING  WAY   NECESSITATES 

HIS   RETIREMENT. 

WE  have  traced  Dr.  Pitman's  active  and  eventful  life  from 
the  scenes  and  circumstances  of  his  infancy,  on  through 
childhood  up  to  manhood,  and  well  on  to  three-score  years. 
We  have  seen  him  renouncing  the  prospects  of  business  life,  and 
under  a  solemn  conviction  of  duty,  and  after  a  long  and  painful 
deliberation,  yielding  to  the  call  of  God  and  the  Church,  and 
entering  upon  the  vocation  of  ministerial  life  without  flattering 
prospects,  or  much  promise  of  the  ordinary  comforts  of  life. 
Bereft  of  a  father  in  childhood,  of  his  young  and  beautiful 
wife,  the  flower  and  choice  of  his  early  manhood,  he  goes  forth 
to  sow  the  seed  of  gospel  life  to  perishing  thousands.  We  see 
him  active  in  his  work  as  a  minister,  and  both  circuit  and  sta- 
tion, under  his  vigilant  and  faithful  hand,  growing  in  numbers 
and  increasing  in  strength ;  how  he  rapidly  steps  from  one  po- 
sition to  another,  and  in  a  short  time  he  is  occupying  one  of  the 
most  responsible  positions  within  the  gift,  or  appointment  of  the 
Church.  Having  been  abundant  in  labors  for  a  series  of  years 
in  this  special  work,  he  is  returned  to  the  regular  pastorate  and 
placed  in  the  most  responsible  appointments  of  great  cities,  and 
after  a  protracted  period  of  this  kind  of  arduous  labor,  which 
yielded  such  a  glorious  harvest  of  souls,  he  is  selected  for  the 
high  and  important  office  of  Corresponding  Missionary  Secre- 
tary of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  For  nearly  ten  years 
he  labored  zealously  and  indefatigably  in  the  special  duties  and 
interests  of  this  vast  work,  giving  every  part,  even  the  minutiae, 
240 


EXPIRATION   OF   HIS   MISSIONARY  SECRETARYSHIP.      241 

his  personal  supervision,  attention  and  aid,  beside  doing  a  great 
deal  of  outside  general  work,  such  as  the  dedication  of  churches, 
attending  camp-meetings,  preaching  and  making  addresses  on 
special  occasions,  and  visiting  the  outposts  and  frontier  part  of 
our  work,  for  its  special  encouragement  and  success. 

And  now,  as  these  years  have  passed,  and  their  consequent  toil 
and  fatigue  have  become  more  extended  and  oppressive,  that  the 
labors  of  his  office  had  begun  to  tell  powerfully  and  greatly  upon 
his  physical  strength  to  that  degree  that  his  constitutional  powers 
indicated  that  they  were  giving  way,  and  which  soon  gave  evi- 
dent tokens  of  that  prostration  of  physical  energy  which  so  soon 
after  necessitated  his  retirement  from  all  active  labor  and  his 
resignation  of  the  Secretaryship  of  the  Missionary  Society, 
immediately  he  began  to  make  preparation  and  arrangements  for 
a  permanent  home,  where  he  might  enjoy  the  quiet  of  his  remain- 
ing life ;  and  accordingly  he  addressed  the  following  affecting 
letter  to  his  old  friend  and  brother,  C.  C.  Yard,  Esq.,  at  Tren- 
ton, dated,  New  York,  March,  1850,  in  which  he  says : 

"  My  health  is  so  feeble  and  my  nervous  system  so  nmch  prostrated 
that  the  labor  and  difficulties  connected  with  moving  seem  to  me  almost 
insurmountable. 

"  My  infirmities,  if  not  my  age,  make  the  weight  of  a  grasshopper  to  be 
a  burden.  I  have  arrived  at  that  crisis  in  a  Methodist  preacher's  history 
which  calls  for  a  large  share  of  sustaining  grace.  I  had  intended  to  rent 
my  house  and  get  a  smaller  one  for  a  moderate  sum,  but  I  cannot  hear 
of  one  any  where  to  suit  me,  and  I  am  therefore  driven  to  the  necessity 
of  occupying  my  own.  It  is  true  it  is  not  a  better  house  than  I  need  for 
my  comfort,  but  I  do  not  know  how  I  am  to  live  without  rent.  My  whole 
income,  without  the  house,  will  be  less  than  one  hundred  dollars  per  an- 
num, and  you  know  the  amount  we  receive  from  Conference  is  very 
small  and  very  precarious.  But  stern  necessity  compels,  and  J  must 
submit  and  endeavor  to  trust  in  God.  It  is  impossible  for  me  to  describe 
my  feelings  for  some  weeks  past,  but  I  think  I  do  not  murmur." 

Having  been  re-transferred  in  June  of  1844  to  the  New  Jersey 
Annual  Conference,  previous  to  his  removal  from  New  York,  he 
16 


242  LIFE   OF   REV.   CHARLES   PITMAN,   D.D. 

addressed  the  following  letter  asking  of  that  body  a  superannuated 
relation : 

"NEW  YORK,  April  15th,  1850. 
"DEAR  FATHERS  AND  BRETHREN: 

"  It  is  now  thirty-two  years  since  I  commenced  my  labors  as  an  itin- 
erant Methodist  preacher.  During  that  time  most  of  my  compeers  have 
either  died  or  retired  from  the  effective  ranks.  Of  the  whole  number  of 
those  who  composed  the  Philadelphia  Conference  when  I  was  received  I 
find  only  seven  in  the  two  Conferences  who  have  continued  to  sustain  an 
effective  relation  without  interruption.  When  I  entered  the  connection 
my  constitution  was  slender  and  my  health  feeble,  so  much  so  that  during 
the  first  nine  years  of  my  ministry  I  could  scarcely  ever  say  I  was  well. 
Yet  in  all  that  time  I  seldom  missed  an  appointment.  While  traveling 
circuits,  I  went  on  preaching  from  seven  to  nine  times  a  week,  and  meet- 
ing a  class  at  the  close  of  each  sermon. 

"After  the  age  of  about  thirty,  I  was  appointed  to  the  'West  Jersey 
District,'  and  continued  in  the  office  of  Presiding  Elder  seven  years. 
While  in  that  responsible  position  my  labors  were  arduous  and  my  duties 
onerous.  On  my  first  district  I  averaged  about  eleven  camp-meetings  a 
year,  and  slept  about  fifty-five  nights  in  the  woods  every  season  ;  yet  in 
the  midst  of  all  my  labors  and  exposures,  health  was  very  much  recruited 
and  my  constitution  became  much  firmer,  so  that  I  was  able  to  endure  a 
vast  amount  of  labor  without  perceptible  injury.  It  is  well  known  that 
my  impulses  were  naturally  strong,  but  perhaps  it  is  not  so  generally 
known  that  during  my  whole  ministry  I  have  suffered  by  a  constitutional 
diffidence  that  sometimes  has  nearly  overpowered  me.  Often,  when  ex- 
pected to  preach  on  some  great  occasion,  have  I  sought  a  place  of  pri- 
vate retirement,  and  there,  in  the  agony  of  my  soul,  struggled  with  God 
in  prayer  until  my  whole  body  was  covered  with  perspiration. 

"The  multifarious  duties  and  responsibilities  of  my  present  office  have 
been  still  more  severe  upon  my  nervous  system,  and  I  find  myself  at  the 
age  of  fifty-four  years  exceedingly  prostrated,  so  much  so  that  I  deem  it 
my  imperative  duty  to  ask  the  Conference  to  grant  me  a  superannuated 
relation.  In  coming  to  this  conclusion,  I  have  passed  through  mental 
conflicts  and  severe  nervous  agitations,  such  as  I  will  not  attempt  to  de- 
scribe. I  have  arrived  at  that  crisis  in  a  Methodist  preacher's  history 
which  I  have  often  heard  of  with  painful  emotion  as  dwelt  upon  by  others, 
but  which  I  have  never  fully  realized  until  the  present. 

"  To  be  laid  aside  as  almost  entirely  useless,  and  perhaps  forgotten  by 
those  who  in  the  days  of  my  youth  and  vigor  were  my  warm  and  kind- 


LETTER  TO  THE  NEW  JEESEY  CONFERENCE.      243 

hearted  friends,  cannot  fail  to  produce  the  most  powerful  reflections. 
But  why  do  I  thus  speak  ?  Brother  Porter  said  to  me  the  other  day, 
4  We  brethren  of  the  New  Jersey  Conference  are  not  going  to  desert  you 
now,'  and  I  must  believe  they  will  not.  It  is  true  I  have  a  small  home 
of  my  own,  but  beside  this  I  have  an  income  of  only  about  one  hundred 
dollars  annually.  In  my  present  state  of  nervous  depression,  the  prospect 
for  anything  like  a  comfortable  support  looks  exceedingly  dark.  But 
what  time,  I  am  afraid,  I  know  it  becomes  me  'to  trust  in  God,'  and  to 
believe  that  I  shall  have  the  sympathies  and  prayers  of  the  brethren 
with  whom  I  have  labored,  and  to  whom  I  have  long  been  ardently 
attached. 

"  Allow  me  to  say,  dear  brethren,  before  I  close,  that  it  would  afford 
me  great  pleasure  to  meet  with  you  in  Conference  once  more,  but  I  fear 
I  shall  be  obliged  to  forego  that  privilege.  I  shall  probably  be  engaged 
in  packing-up  and  moving  my  effects  to  Trenton  at  the  time  of  your  ses- 
sion. Besides  I  do  not  know  whether  I  would  be  able  to  sustain  my 
feelings  with  any  degree  of  manliness  under  excitements  of  an  interview 
with  so  many  of  my  much  loved  brethren. 

"My  health  is  somewhat  better  than  it  was  some  weeks  ago,  but 
whether  I  shall  ever  be  able  to  do  effective  service  again  is  only  known  to 
the  wise  Disposer  of  all  things.  In  my  present  circumstances  I  can  only 
trust  in  him  and  try  to  hope  for  a  favorable  issue.  Wishing  you  a 
pleasant  and  profitable  session,  I  remain, 

"As  ever,  yours  affectionately, 

"C.  "PITMAN." 

44  N.  B. — It  is  possible  I  may  be  able  to  do  some  work  during  the  Con- 
ference year,  but  my  physicians  all  agree  that  it  is  important  to  my 
health  that  I  should  be  exempted  from  all  responsibilities  to  labor.  I 
have  therefore  thought  it  advisable  to  ask  you  for  a  superannuated  rela- 
tion, as  in  that  relation  I  can  do  all  I  am  able  without  being  under  obli- 
gations to  any  particular  place.  C  P  " 

"We  have  already  alluded  to  the  character  of  Dr.  Pitman  as  a 
poet.  He  has  written  nearly  a  half-hundred  of  beautiful  poetic 
effusions,  and  though  some  are  of  a  mournful  character,  others 
are  highly  instructive  in  their  doctrinal  and  historical  character. 
During  the  years  of  his  secretaryship  in  the  missionary  society, 
it  was  his  custom  on  the  9th  day  of  January  each  year  (his 
birthday),  to  write  a  birthday  effusion,  or  retrospect,  as  he  called 


244  LIFE  OP  REV.   CHARLES  PITMAN,   D.D. 

them.  He  wrote  but  one  after  his  retirement  from  the  active 
work,  which  he  entitled,  "  Birthday  Reflections,"  and  which  was 
written  on  that  day  in  1851,  the  next  year  after  his  removal  to 
Trenton.  The  following  is  an  extract  from  it: 

"  Two-score  and  fifteen  years  have  gone 
Since  life  with  me  commenced  its  dawn, 
How  like  a  race  that's  swiftly  run, 
Life's  tale  is  told  soon  as  begun. 


*'  I've  labored  long  and  labored  hard, 
Nor  have  I  toiled  without  reward, 
Thousands  of  souls  in  mercy  given 
Shall  own  my  ministry  in  heaven. 

"  In  retrospecting  by-gone  years, 
How  short  our  fleeting  time  appears ! 
How  evanescent  all  below, 
How  dark  these  grounds  where  sorrows  grow  i 

"  Friendship  is  often  but  a  name, 
Prompted  by  selfish  love  of  fame  ; 
It  fawns  and  flatters  for  a  day, 
And  then  it  cools  and  dies  away. 

"  So  I  have  found  my  summer  friends, 
Friends  only  while  it  served  their  ends, 
And  when  I  could  no  longer  serve, 
Their  love  was  changed  to  cold  reserve. 

"  But  yet  there  are  a  worthy  few 
Who  still  remain  both  kind  and  true, 
Whose  tender  sympathies  I  share, 
Who  for  my  comfort  kindly  care. 

*  May  these  unwavering  friends  be  blest 
With  present  peace  and  future  rest, 
And  I  with  them  sweet  notes  employ 
Where  all  is  health,  and  life,  and  joy." 


SEVERITY  OF  LABOR  CAUSES  PHYSICAL,  PROSTRATION.    245 

If  there  seems  to  be  a  vein  of  sadness  running  through  these 
lines,  if  there  appears  to  the  reader's  mind  a  somewhat  dark 
and  gloomy  aspect  of  the  friendships  of  human  life,  let  it  be 
borne  in  mind  that  at  this  period  of  his  life,  Dr.  Pitman  was 
suffering  from  extreme  nervous  prostration,  and  at  times  his 
mind  became  exceedingly  dark  and  gloomy ;  already  the  physical 
frame  bore  marks  of  the  power  of  that  terrible  disease  which 
was  soon  to  lay  the  strong  man  low,  and  cause  the  powerful  man 
to  be  helpless,  like  a  child,  and  wreck  the  gigantic  frame  to  a 
tottering  fall.  So  God  in  his  wisdom  often  takes  down  this 
earthly  structure ;  brick  after  brick  is  removed,  until  the  last 
foundation-stone  is  reached,  and  the  building  is  demolished  and 
gone.  The  commencement  is  often  made  at  the  top,  where 
gathering  gloom  obscures  the  bright  and  sunny  phases  of  life, 
but  how  grand  is  the  realizing  sense  of  that  faith  which  teaches 
us  that  as  our  earthly  eye  grows  dim  to  the  fading  glories  of 
time,  our  spiritual  vision  opens  the  wider  upon  the  unfading 
glories,  and  unchanging  realities,  of  the  eternal  world. 

It  is  a  question  that  was  often  discussed  among  Dr.  Pitman's 
friends  whether  his  appointment  to  the  secretaryship  of  the 
Missionary  Society  was,  in  every  sense,  the  most  judicious ; 
many  entertained  the  opinion  that  the  drudgery  and  travel, 
local  and  extended  labor,  the  procurement  and  adjustment  of 
such  vast  financial  schemes  as  were  involved,  specially  at  that 
time  under  the  circumstances  of  its  depleted  and  almost  bank- 
rupt treasury,  was  uot  the  kind  of  work  to  which  his  high- 
wrought,  sensitive  nature  was  best  adapted,  and  though  his 
selection  from  among  so  many  ministers  of  distinguished  ability 
was  no  mean  compliment  to  his  pre-eminent  ability,  yet  it  was 
regarded  as  stepping  down  from  the  lofty  pinnacle  of  influence 
and  power  which  his  abilities  had  secured  for  him  to  occupy  in 
the  estimation  of  thousands.  There  is  no  doubt  that  the  labors, 
cares  and  duties  of  the  office,  for  the  success  of  the  missionary 
work,  which  was  then  in  its  formative  and  transitional  state,  in- 


246  LIFE   OF   REV.    CHARLES   PITMAN,    D.D. 

volving  many  untried  expedients  and  arduous  plannings  for  re- 
lief and  future  success,  was  what  laid  the  foundation  of  that 
disease  which  so  impaired  his  nervous  system  and  prostrated  his 
whole  physical  nature,  as  to  necessitate  his  retirement  from 
active  duty  and  service  in  the  church.  It  was  also  known  that 
during  the  years  of  his  labors  in  the  office  as  Missionary  Secre- 
tary, he  had  severe  attacks  of  debilitating  and  prostrating  sick- 
ness, sometimes  when  at  home,  at  others  when  abroad  and  engaged 
in  prosecuting  the  duties  of  his  office ;  from  these  attacks,  by 
careful  and  kind  attention,  he  soon  recovered,  but  for  several 
months  previous  to  his  resignation,  there  was  an  evident  decline, 
and  the  powers  of  life  seemed  to  be  giving  way  under  the  pres- 
sure. 

The  intelligence  of  his  failing  health  had  spread  all  over  the 
country,  and  produced  a  feeling  of  profound  regret  far  and  near 
among  both  the  ministry  and  laity,  and  many  were  the  devout 
and  earnest  prayers  that  ascended  to  the  throne  of  heavenly  grace 
for  his  recovery  and  restoration  to  the  work  of  the  ministry.  It 
was  thought  that  rest  and  a  total  cessation  from  active  duty 
would  have  a  tendency  to  repair  and  recuperate  his  exhausted 
energies  ;  but  after  his  retirement  from  the  office  and  settlement 
ill  Trenton,  N.  J.,  it  became  evident  that  there  was  a  perpetual 
decline  and  increased  debility,  from  day  to  day,  and  suffering 
growing  more  extreme  marked  its  course  on  his  physical  being. 

In  1852,  the  New  Jersey  Conference  met  in  Trenton,  the 
place  of  the  residence  of  Dr.  Pitman.  A  graphic  pen  makes 
the  following  note,  which  appeared  in  one  of  our  journals,  "New 
Jersey  Conference:  "  "This  body  is  now  in  session  in  the  Green 
Street  M.  E.  Church,  city  of  Trenton,  Bishop  Janes  in  the 
chair.  The  session  has  thus  far  been  undisturbed  by  any  un- 
pleasant occurrences,  and  business  has  proceeded  with  great  dis- 
patch. The  public  services  which  have  taken  place  up  to  the  time 
of  this  writing,  and  have  been  most  interesting  to  the  people  at 
large,  are  the  dedication  of  a  new  church  in  South  Trenton  by 


DE8CKIPTIO5   OF  HB   APPEARANCE  15  OLMUPKRKSCIL    247 

Bishop  Janes,  and  the  Sabbath-school 
Street  Church.     These  are  spoken  of  * 
profitable  occasions." 

Our  old  and  valued  friend,  Dr.  Pitman,  who  resides  in  Tren- 
ton, appeared  in  the  Conference  on  Friday.  His  first  appearance 
was  affecting  indeed.  He  is  much  broken  by  paralysis,  and 
walks  with  difficulty.  The  once  strong  frame  is  now  nearly  re- 
duced to  helplessness,  and  the  voice  which  once  sounded  with  the 
shrillness  and  power  of  a  tnimpet,  is  fteble  and  filtering.  "Lo! 
the  strong  men  bow  themselves,''  and  "  the  goodlineae  ^  of  man 
passeth  away,  ".as  the  flower  of  the  field.*9 

Several  eloquent  and  impressive  pens  have  endeavored  to  de- 
scribe that  solemn  and  soul-moving  scene  that  startled  the  whole 
Conference  and  congregation  on  the  morning  that  Dr.  Pitman 
entered  it  for  the  first  time  during  its  session,  and  far  the  first 
time,  after  an  absence  of  several  years,  daring  his  long  and 
protracted  service  as  Missionary  Secretary ;  bat  no  delineation 
that  has  been  drawn  of  the  occasion  gives  as  a  fuller  or  more 
graphic  description,  presents  it  with  greater  vividness  and  ac- 
curacy and  with  more  impressiveness  and  iffl  iTing,  reality  than 
that  drawn  by  our  own  Conference  historian  and  poet,  Rev.  E. 
H.  Stokes,  D  JX,  which  we  here  subjoin : 

u  In  the  year  1852,  the  New  Jersey  Conference  held  its 
nnal  session  in  the  City  of  Trenton.  Although  the  church 
but  three  or  four  minutes  walk  from  Dr.  Pitman's  home,  and  dearly 
as  be  loved  to  mingle  in  these  gatherings  of  his  brethren,  his 
health  was  such  as  to  allow  him  but  a  single  visit.  That  visit 
will  never  be  forgotten  by  those  who  were  present.  It  was 
about  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning,  several  days  after  the  Confer- 
ence had  convened,  Bishop  Janes  was  in  the  chair,  and  the 
business  was  progressing  with  quietness  and  despatch.  Sud- 
denly a  wail  of  unutterable  sorrow  burst  upon  the  assembly. 
Startled  by  the  unexpected  sound,  and  ignorant  of  its  source, 
every  eye  was  instantly  turned  in  the  direction  from  whence  it 


248  LIFE   OF   REV.    CHARLES   PITMAN,    D.D. 

came.  What  a  scene  was  then  presented  !  There  was  the  form 
of  the  once  majestic  Pitman  bowed  and  broken  ;  his  noble,  and 
in  times  past  often  divinely-illuminated  face,  bathed  in  a  flood 
of  tears;  the  lower  jaw  relaxed  and  so  fallen  as  to  give  him  a 
most  unnatural  appearance ;  and  as  he  passed  up  the  northern 
aisle,  supported  by  a  friend  on  either  side,  the  sight  of  his  min- 
isterial brethren  in  health — brethren  with  whom  he  had  so  often 
met  under  more  favorable  circumstances,  and  with  whom  he  had 
so  long  and  so  pleasantly  labored,  still  strong  in  battle  for  the 
Lord,  while  he  with  all  his  early  and  earnest  sympathies  for 
poor  humanity,  was  but  a  wreck  unable  to  do  anything,  so  over- 
whelmed him,  that  a  wail,  expressive  of  the  deepest  anguish 
burst  from  his  almost  breaking  heart.  On  reaching  the  plat- 
form, Bishop  Janes  descended  and  kindly  assisted  him  to  a 
chair  beside  him,  where  he  sat  till  the  close  of  the  session  bathed 
in  tears.  The  scene  was  so  deeply  affecting,  that  for  some  time 
no  business  was  transacted,  and  when  it  was  resumed,  it  was  in 
tones  subdued  by  sympathy  and  sadness."* 

Dr.  Pitman  continued  to  grow  more  feeble  in  body  as  the 
weeks  and  months  passed  by,  and  with  this  increasing  feeble- 
ness of  his  physical  powers  there  also  came  that  waning  and 
decay  of  the  mental.  Gradually,  yet  very  perceptibly,  did  they 
fade  together,  until  the  tender  and  more  susceptible  of  the  two, 
the  reason,  gave  way,  and  the  last  craved  blessing  of  a  dying 
slave  of  pain  had  seemingly  flit  forever.  Lingering  on,  however, 
in  a  half  or  semi-comatose  state  of  life  for  several  months,  with 
hardly  a  child's  discernment,  and  without  mental  perception 
enough  to  scarcely  discern  who  his  wife  was,  or  what  was  his 
being,  he  continued  to  barely  exist  up  to  Saturday,  the  14th 
day  of  January,  1854,  "when  he  was  not,  for  God  took  him/' 
revivified  his  immortal  nature  and  bade  him  forever  to  burn 
and  blaze  in  the  meridian  splendors  of  immortality,  in  the  un- 
fading beauty  and  unchanging  happiness  of  celestial  perfection 
*  N.  J.  Conference  Memorial,  pp.  268-69. 


DEATH   OF   DR.    CHARLES   PITMAN.  249 

and  of  a  glorified  and  undying  nature,  aged  fifty-eight  years 
and  five  days. 

The  tidings  soon  flew  over  the  entire  realm  of  Methodism, 
and  the  country,  and  the  solemn  and  affecting  news  reached 
thousands  of  ears,  that  Dr.  Charles  Pitman  was  dead.  Emo- 
tion such  as  seldom  had  stirred  the  heart  of  our  church  seemed 
to  move  it  now.  Strong  men  bowed  their  heads,  and  wept  as 
they  said  in  subdued  tones :  "  Dr.  Pitman  is  dead,  and  we  shall 
see  his  face  no  more  •"  "  We  shall  never  again  hear  the  sweet 
voice  that  was  so  melodiously  set  to  the  chanting  notes  of  re- 
deeming mercy  and  saving  grace;"  "Never  will  the  melting 
strains  of  his  matchless  eloquence  fall  upon  our  ears  or  stir  our 
hearts;"  "O  God,  how  mysterious  are  thy  ways,  and  thy  prov- 
idences are  past  finding  out  I" 

The  funeral  services  of  Dr.  Pitman  were  conducted  in  the 
Green  Street  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  Trenton,  N.  J., 
on  the  following  Tuesday,  January  17th,  at  2  P.M.,  and  were 
attended  by  a  large  concourse  of  ministers  and  friends.  A  sol- 
emn and  impressive  discourse  was  delivered  by  Bishop  Janes 
from  Acts  vi.  8,  in  connection  with  the  59th  and  60th  verses  of 
the  7th  chapter,  and  the  2nd  verse  of  the  8th  chapter,  which, 
after  the  bishop  had,  by  way  of  introduction,  descanted  upon 
the  character  of  Stephen,  embraced  the  following  points,  and 
which  were  amplified  and  set  forth  by  the  eloquent  and  nervous 
tongue  of  the  bishop,  who  seemed  to  be  more  than  usually  bap- 
tized with  the  spirit  of  his  theme.  He  said : 

"I.  Let  us  view  the  character  of  our  departed  brother, — 1st.  As  a 
Man;  2nd.  As  a  Friend;  3rd.  As  a  Christian. 

"II.  Let  us  view  him  as  a  minister  of  Christ.  As  a  minister,  who 
ever  excelled  him?  who  ever  equalled  him?  .  .  .  Did  he  not  understand 
the  science  of  salvation,  and  was  he  not  entitled,  if  any  one  ever  was,  to 
the  title  of  'Doctor  of  Divinity?'  'He  dipped,'  says  Brother  Corbit, 
'his  intellect  into  the  clear  and  burning  lava  of  eternal  truth.'  When 
he  opened  a  text,  it  was  like  opening  a  cabinet  of  jewels  to  your  view, 
and  he  would  show  you  a  rich  treasure  in  the  Scriptures.  His  manner 


250  LIFE   OF   REV.    CHARLES   PITMAN,    D.D. 

was  plain  and  bold.     He  rebuked  the  sinner  and  warned  him  to  flee 
from  the  wrath  to  come. 

"  His  voice  and  action  were  as  perfect  as  they  well  could  have  been. 
His  noble  brow,  his  tearful  eye,  his  dignified  bearing,  were  all  eloquent. 
There  was  a  divine  influence  that  proceeded  from  him,  a  power  that 
moved  all  hearts  the  moment  he  arose  and  began  to  speak,  that  went  over 
the  assembly  like  a  wave  moving  in  gentle  and  undulating  motion  over 
the  placid  waters  of  a  beautiful  lake  on  a  summer's  morning. 

"III.  As  a  Presiding  Elder.  Like  Paul,  'In  labors  more  abun- 
dant,' &c. 

"  IV.  As  Missionary  Secretary.  So  indefatigable,  so  laborious,  so  faith- 
ful to  all  his  duties,  that  not  even  the  smallest  were  neglected  or  over- 
looked. 

"  V.  As  a  Preacher  at  Camp-Meetings,  at  the  Dedication  of  Churches, 
at  Conference  Ordinations,  in  all  positions  pre-eminent,  a  prince  and  a 
peer.  He  was  a  son  of  thunder,  and  his  appeals  to  the  sinner  were  most 
terrific :  '  Flee  from  the  wrath  to  come,'  '  Buy  the  truth  and  sell  it  not,' 
'  If  thou  scornest,  thou  alone  shalt  bear  it,'  'And  the  times  of  this 
ignorance  God  winked  at,'  &c.,  '  For  if  the  word  spoken  by  angels  was 
steadfast,'  &c.  '  Beginning  at  Jerusalem,'  &c.  He  preached  a  sermon 
from  these  words,  before  one  of  our  Conferences,  of  great  beauty  and 
power,  which  I  shall  never  forget.  It  seemed  as  if  God  had  commis- 
sioned him  to  go  to  that  Conference  and  re-commission  every  minister  in 
it,  and  send  him  forth  to  his  work  under  a  renewed  baptism  of  the  Holy 
Ghost.  He  preached  at  New  Bedford  an  ordination  sermon  from  these 
words,  'He  hath  sent  me  to  bind  up  the  broken-hearted,'  Isa.  Ixi.  1.  A 
sermon  that  melted  all  eyes  and  hearts,  and  which  Bishop  Hedding  told 
me  'he  never  heard  any  thing  that  transcended  it.' 

"  Dr.  Pitman  lost  his  voice  at  the  close  of  his  life.  His  last  days  were 
clouded  with  the  influence  of  severe  bodily  malady.  '  Paralysis  affected 
his  speech  and  destroyed  his  bodily  vigor  and  beauty.  His  last  visit  to 
our  Conference  held  in  this  church  was  one  of  the  most  affecting  scenes 
I  ever  witnessed.  I  shall  never  forget  it.'  "  * 

The  occasion  was  one  of  the  most  mournful  as  well  as  most 
imposing  that  was  ever  witnessed  by  the  preachers  of  the  Con- 
ference, or  the  citizens  of  the  city  of  Trenton.  The  remains 
were  borne  from  the  church  by  several  ministers,  special  friends 

*  Bishop  Janes. 


NOTICE  OF   FUNERAL  SERVICE   AT  TRENTON.  251 

of  the  deceased,  headed  by  Bishop  Janes  and  others,  and  fol- 
lowed by  his  bereaved  widow  and  family,  and  a  large  concourse 
of  friends,  to  the  Mercer  Cemetery,  in  East  Trenton,  and  there, 
with  the  impressive  burial  service  of  the  ritual  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  were  committed  to  their  last  resting-place  to 
await  the  trumpet's  blast  of  the  angel  of  the  resurrection,  when 
the  glorified  form  of  the  immortal  Pitman  shall  come  forth 
"clothed  with  a  body  like  unto  the  Son  of  God,"  to  join  the  my- 
riads of  the  skies,  to  ascribe  salvation  to  God  and  the  Lamb 
forever. 

The  Daily  True  American,  of  Trenton,  contained  the  follow- 
ing notice  the  next  day  : 

"FUNERAL  SEEVICE  AT  TRENTON,  N.  J. 

"  January  18th,  1854. 

"The  funeral  of  Rev.  Charles  Pitman,  D.  D.,  took  place  yesterday  after- 
noon. Between  thirty  and  forty  ministers  attended  the  services  and  in- 
terment. The  remains  were  taken  to  the  Green  Street  M.  E.  Church. 
The  exercises  were  opened  with  the  reading  of  the  90th  Psalm  by  Rev. 
John  Hall,  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  of  this  city.  The  1086th 
hymn — 

'Servant  of  God,  well  done! 
Thy  glorious  warfare's  past,' 

was  announced  by  Rev.  George  Lane,  D.  D.,  which  was  sung  by  a  very 
efficient  choir.  The  Rev.  R.  W.  Petherbridge  offered  the  opening 
prayer. 

"Bishop  Janes  preached  from  Acts  vi.  8;  vii.  59,  60;  and  viii.  2. 
After  some  remarks  applying  to  the  deceased,  he  gave  a  succinct  history 
of  his  life  and  ministry.  He  was  born  January  9th,  1796,  and  was  con- 
verted in  his  sixteenth  year,  licensed  to  preach  in  his  twentieth  year,  and 
began  his  connection  with  the  traveling  ministry  in  the  following  year. 
His  first  sermon  as  a  traveling  preacher  was  delivered  in  the  old  church 
in  this  city.  He  had  been  actively  connected  with  the  ministry  without 
intermission  from  1817  to  1850,  when,  after  repeated  shocks  of  paraly- 
sis, his  speech  was  affected  and  his  general  health  shattered;  and  in 
April,  1850,  he  was  compelled  to  resign  his  ministerial  position,  and  re- 
moved to  this  city,  and  has  lived  among  us  ever  since.  He  had  been 


252  LIFE   OF   REV.    CHARLES   PITMAN,   D.D. 

gradually  failing  for  the  last  two  years,  and  although  long  expected,  his 
decease  was  sudden. 

"  The  sermon  was  a  most  eloquent  effort,  full  of  power  and  pathos,  and 
highly  eulogistical  of  the  character  and  labors  of  the  deceased.  The 
proceedings  of  the  Mission  Board  of  the  M.  E.  Church  relative  to  the 
death  of  the  deceased,  with  accompanying  resolutions,  were  read  by  the 
Bishop. 

"The  1082d  hymn  was  sung  by  the  choir,  and  the  services  of  the 
church  closed  with  prayer  by  Dr.  Floy,  of  New  York.  The  remains  were 
interred  in  Mercer  Cemetery." 

Subsequently  to  the  imposing  ceremonies  and  funeral  of  Rev. 
Charles  Pitman,  D.  D.,  in  Trenton,  N.  J.,  the  Rev.  William  P. 
Corbit  (of  whom  Mr.  Pitman  had  been  instrumental  in  his  con- 
version some  eighteen  years  previous,  and  under  whom  Mr.  Cor- 
bit had  received  his  preparatory  theological  instruction  previous 
to  entering  the  ministry),  preached  a  funeral  discourse  in  St. 
George's  Church,  Philadelphia,  from  2  Sam.  iii.  38:  "Know 
ye  not  that  there  is  a  prince  and  a  great  man  fallen  this  day  in 
Israel?"  The  occasion  drew  a  large  concourse  of  people  to- 
gether, and  the  large  church  was  packed  by  the  crowd  which  thr 
interest  had  created.  The  speaker  had  fully  prepared  himself  for 
the  demands  of  the  hour,  and  the  sermon  was  one  of  his  happiest 
efforts,  abounding  in  highly  eulogistic  utterances.  Dr.  Pitman's 
life-service  and  ministerial  work  for  the  Church,  his  pre-eminent 
ability  and  adaptation  to  the  several  exalted  positions  to  which 
he  had  been  appointed  and  elected  to  fill,  his  work  as  a  repre- 
sentative in  the  General  Conference  of  1832  and  '36,  being 
elected  thereto  by  the  Philadelphia  Conference;  and  subsequently 
in  1840  by  the  New  Jersey  Conference,  furnished  a  wide  field 
for  the  descriptive  powers  of  the  speaker.  The  peroration  to  the 
sermon  was  exceedingly  fine,  enumerating  the  wonderful  results 
of  so  fruitful  a  ministry,  which  had  brought  in  such  a  har- 
vest of  souls  to  the  Church,  and  specially  had  been  the  means  of 
strengthening  the  ranks  of  the  ministry  with  such  an  able  corps 
of  efficient  leaders  of  the  host  of  God.  The  speaker  felt  that  it 


POEM   BY   KEY.    EDWARD   C.    JONES.  253 

was  beyond  the  ken  of  mortal  man  to  portray  to  the  audi- 
ence the  "eternal  weight  of  glory"  which  now  rested  upon  this 
crowned  veteran,  in  the  kingdom  of  our  Father,  where,  throned, 
sceptred  and  forever  diademed  in  the  glories  of  the  heavenly  Je- 
rusalem, Charles  Pitman  would  forever  live  to  blaze  with  undi- 
minished  glory  and  seraphic  splendor,  as  long  as  dateless  cycles 
shall  dot  the  inexpressible  periods  of  eternity,  singing  the  old 
but  eternally  new  song,  Hallelujah !  "  for  the  Lord  God  Om- 
nipotent reigneth." 

"THE  UNBROKEN  BEST." 

Stanzas  to  the  memory  of  Rev.  Charles  Pitman,  D.D.,  by  Rev.  Ed- 
ward C.  Jones.  It  may  be  stated  in  this  connection  that  the  author, 
when  a  boy,  frequently  attended  the  ministrations  of  the  lamented  de- 
ceased, when  stationed  in  Philadelphia,  and  was  attached  to  him  as  an 
awakening  preacher  of  righteousness.  Though  a  member  and  minister 
of  another  branch  of  the  "  Israel  of  God,"  he  desired  thus  to  express 
his  feeling  at  the  sad  event  of  the  departure  of  a  great  and  good  man 
from  the  church  militant. 

"  The  calm,  deep  rest  to  all  of  mortal  toil, 

The  quiet  of  the  sepulchre,  is  thine ! 
But  mem'ry  garners  up  thy  voice  and  smile, 

And  friendship  stops  its  votive  wreath  to  twine ; 
And  on  the  record  of  thy  useful  days 
We  pause,  with  beating  heart,  to  meditate  and  gaze. 

"  Who  that  hath  sat  beneath  that  silvery  voice, 

So  like  the  chimings  from  a  purer  sphere, 
Can  e'er  forget  the  compass  of  its  power  ? 

How  rose  and  fell  its  thrillings  on  the  ear, 
Melting  to  tears  the  soul  which  earth  had  steel'd, 
As  erst  the  flinty  rock  its  lucent  tide  could  yield ! 

"  And  when,  between  '  the  living  and  the  dead,' 

Thou,  Aaron-like,  didst  take  the  priestly  stand, 
That  pleasing  voice,  which  rose  for  erring  man, 

That  face  so  heaven-lit,  that  uplifted  hand, 
All  true  exponents  were  of  that  kind  heart, 
Which  shared  with  human  grief  ita  own  allotted  part. 


254  LIFE   OF   REV.    CHARLES   PITMAN,   D.D. 

"  In  slow  decay  thou  passedst  to  thy  rest, 

But  faith  had  pinions  mighty  in  their  sweep  I 
And  hope  and  trust  were  thine  while  sinking  thus, 

So  wreck'd  iu  body,  to  thy  dreamless  sleep ; 
The  crown  bedight  with  gems  reveal'd  its  light, 
And  pain  forgot  its  power,  and  death  disowned  its  night. 

"  In  that  blest  realm,  where  all  the  host  of  God, 

Though  differing  here  in  name,  shall  meet  at  last, 

The  travel- dust  of  time,  the  strife  with  sin, 
The  fierce  temptation  all  forgot  and  past; 

How  sweet  the  hope !  how  rapturous  the  trust ! 

That  there  shall  meet,  as  one,  the  glorified — the  just." 

FINAL  RESTING-PLACE. 

Mercer  Cemetery,  where  rests  all  that  was  mortal  of  the 
remains  of  Rev.  Charles  Pitman,  D.D.,  is  located  in  the  easterly 
part  of  the  city  of  Trenton,  N.  J.  When  the  cemetery  was 
first  originated  and  laid  out  as  a  burial-place  for  Trenton's  hon- 
ored dead,  it  was  considered  to  be  well  out  in  the  country,  so 
that  many  years,  if  not  a  century,  might  elapse  before  the 
increase  and  spread  of  the  city  would  touch  the  borders  of  this 
sacred  place ;  but  the  rapid  increase  of  the  population  of  the 
ever-growing  city,  which  is  largely  devoted  to  manufacturing 
interests,  has  for  some  years  been  clustering  homes,  palatial  res- 
idences and  places  of  business  around  this  miniature  city  of  the 
dead. 

The  cemetery  now  fronts  on  Clinton  Avenue,  and  covers  an 
area  of  about  two  and  a-half  acres,  and  is  surrounded  by  a  sub- 
stantial iron  fence.  Its  main  entrance  is  at  the  centre,  on  the 
avenue.  As  you  enter  the  iron  gate  and  pass  down  the  broad 
path,  westerly,  to  Section  6th,  turning,  south,  down  the  path, 
designating  Section  6th,  and  about  one  hundred  feet,  you  come 
very  near  the  centre  of  the  cemetery.  Here,  on  the  right,  is  a 
burial-plot  which  is  enclosed  with  a  neat  and  substantial  iron 
fence,  and  which  contains  the  mortal  part  of  the  great,  the  good 


FINAL   RESTING   PLACE.  255 

and  heroic  Charles  Pitman.  Kind  Christian  friends,  generous 
neighbors  and  esteemed  citizens  selected  this  place,  and  laid  to 
rest  one  of  Trenton's  princely  dead.  A  beautiful  monument, 
some  six  feet  high,  resting  upon  a  large  base  of  Trenton  brown- 
stone,  and  with  a  dye  some  two  feet  square,  on  which  is  cut  the 
name,  record  of  official  position,  date  of  birth  and  death  of 
Charles  Pitman,  with  the  epitaph,  "  Rest  in  peace."  The  mon- 
ument is  crowned  with  an  urn  with  significant  designs,  repre- 
senting eternal  light,  which  indicates  that  his  life-work  was  to 
promulgate  the  light  of  life  to  men. 

Beside  him  lie  the  remains  of  his  beloved  wife  and  his  chil- 
dren who  died  in  infancy,  sleeping  their  last  sleep.  As  we  stood 
beside  his  tomb,  we  thought  of  the  years  that  were  past,  and  of 
the  time  when  he  was  in  active  life,  and  of  the  untold  multi- 
tudes that  hung  with  breathless  silence  upon  his  enrapturing 
and  inimitable  eloquence.  How  many  thousands  who  listened 
to  his  voice  on  earth,  as  it  rang  out  the  royal  proclamation  of 
divine  mercy  to  the  unsaved  and  wanderer  from  the  fold  of  God, 
hear  it  now  no  more.  Death  has  sealed  in  speechless  silence 
those  lips  that  once  were  so  flexible,  and  that  voice,  so  well- 
attuned,  to  tell  the  story  of  redeeming  love.  But  the  simple 
change  in  the  circumstances  of  his  being  has  not  had  the  power  to 
destroy,  or  dismember  the  faculties  of  his  spiritual  nature,  and 
still  Charles  Pitman  is  singing  in  a  higher  and  more  exalted 
strain  the  hymns  of  praise  he  used  to  sing  so  earnestly,  and  with 
such  thrilling  effect  on  earth ;  a  change  of  circumstances,  or  mode 
of  life,  has  had  no  power  with  him  to  change  the  order  and 
exercise  of  spiritual  affinities  and  effects.  The  knowledge  he 
had  on  earth,  and  the  deep  experiences  that  once  so  powerfully 
thrilled  his  soul,  are  now  expanding  into  more  enlarged  views 
of  the  divine  goodness,  and  exultingly  filling  his  immortal 
nature  with  a  greater  degree  of  happiness  than  ever  before  he 
experienced.  He  is  now  in  actual  realization  of  what  was  once 
anticipated  in  hope,  and  promise,  and  by  faith,  and  knows  now 


256  LIFE   OF   REV.   CHARLES   PITMAN,   D.D. 

what  is  the  fruition  of  heavenly  joy  around  the  throne  of 
God. 

It  is  eminently  fitting  that  bowers  of  beauty  and  flowers  of 
exquisite  loveliness,  should  adorn  the  place  where  sleeps  the 
pious  dead.  It  is  fitting  that  the  cedar  should  wave  its  ever- 
green branches,  and  throw  the  shade  of  its  foliage  over  his 
grave.  It  is  fitting  that  in  this  quiet  retreat  he  should  rest  in 
undisturbed  repose,  that  after  a  life  of  so  much  toil  and  devo- 
tion to  his  great  Master's  name,  he  should  rest  from  the  turmoil, 
din  and  strife  of  life.  But  though  our  communion  with  him  is 
broken  in  this  life,  his  being,  has  a  conscious  existence  in  another 
life,  with  all  the  powers  and  faculties  of  nature  unimpaired  by 
the  crush  and  prostrate  stroke  of  death,  or  the  dissolution  of  his 
mortal  frame.  He  sleeps,  but  he  does  not  sleep  alone.  Around 
lie  our  Batchelder,  Bartine,  Hance,  Brown  and  others  of  aifec- 
tionate  remembrance,  and  though  the  place  is  silent,  and  not  a 
voice  is  heard,  or  a  note  whispered  by  one  of  its  tenants,  angels 
hover  over  the  scene  and  cheer  the  place  with  their  glad  ho- 
sannas  of  exultant  praise,  in  the  assurance  that  the  dead  in 
Christ  shall  have  a  resurrection  to  eternal  life. 

It  is  here  we  leave  the  hero  of  our  history,  that  is,  the  mortal 
part  that  gave  physical  form  and  being  to  Charles  Pitman  f 
but  who  can  pierce  the  blue  veil  that  hides  the  spirit-world 
from  mortal  view,  and  survey  the  mansions  of  endless  delight 
in  the  city  of  the  living  God,  and  give  a  description  of  that 
happiness  which  he  now  enjoys  in  the  realms  of  everlasting 
blessedness  ?  We  forbear  !  conscious  that  "  Eye  hath  not  seen, 
nor  ear  heard,  neither  have  entered  into  the  heart  of  man 
the  things  which  God  hath  prepared  for  them  that  love  him," 
and  we  here,  with  the  thousands  that  loved  and  revered  him, 
lay  our  tribute  of  respect  to  his  memory,  and  in  token  of  his 
good  deeds,  kind  offices  and  wonderful  endowment  of  spiritual 
life  and  power,  say  from  our  heart,  in  the  language  of  Charles 
Wesley : 


SURVIVING   MEMBERS   OF  THE   PITMAN   FAMILY.         257 

"  SERVANT  of  God,  well  done ! 

Thy  glorious  warfare's  past ; 
The  battle's  fought,  the  race  is  won, 

And  thou  art  crowned  at  last ; 
******** 

"  With  saints  enthroned  on  high, 
Thou  dost  thy  Lord  proclaim, 
And  still  to  God  salvation  cry, 
Salvation  to  the  Lamb  ! " 

THE  SURVIVING   MEMBERS   OF   THE   PITMAN   FAMILY. 

The  son  of  Mr.  Pitman  referred  to  in  this  volume,  by  his 
first  marriage,  and  whose  name  was  Charles  Wesley  Pit- 
man, grew  up  to  manhood  life,  and  after  enjoying  the  special 
benefits  which  the  best  of  our  graded  schools  could  afford,  and 
taking  the  highest  honors  that  they  could  confer,  was  sent*  to 
Dickinson  College,  where  he  continued  the  full  course  of  study, 
and  graduated  'with  the  honors  of  that  institution.  Subse- 
quently he  taught  school  for  a  time,  and  then  removed  to  Potts- 
ville,  Pa.,  where  he  engaged  in  business  life.  In  the  years  1849 
to  1851  he  was  a  Representative  in  the  national  Congress  from 
the  district  where  he  lived,  having  been  chosen  by  the  people 
and  elected  thereto  by  a  large  suffrage.  After  his  term  of  con- 
gressional duties  were  closed,  he  engaged  in  the  lumber  business 
for  a  number  of  years,  during  which  time  he  was  elected  Sheriff 
of  Schuylkill  County,  in  the  fall  of  1870,  and  died  while  in 
office,  June  8th,  1871.  He  had  six  children,  four  sons  and  two 
daughters.  Of  the  children  only  two  sons  and  one  daughter 
survive,  who  reside  in  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Of  Mr.  Pitman's  children  by  his  second  marriage,  whose 
names  were  Thomas  and  Frank,  Thomas  deceased  in  early  man- 
hood life,  and  before  marriage.  Frank  grew  to  manhood, 
married  and  had  two  children  by  his  marriage.  His  constitu- 
tion was  frail  and  feeble.  He  entered  the  ministry  of  the  local 
ranks  and  served  one  or  two  charges  in  the  New  Jersey  Con- 
17 


258  LIFE   OP  REV.   CHAELES   PITMAN,   D.D. 

ference  under  the  appointment  of  the  Presiding  Elder  j  but 
failing  health  forbade  the  pursuit,  and  he  was  compelled  to 
relinquish  his  much-loved  employ  and  desire  to  preach  Christ, 
and  in  a  little  time  thereafter  died,  being  about  thirty-three 
years  of  age.  His  two  children  still  survive  him  and  are  living 
in  Trenton,  New  Jersey. 

The  name  of  Pitman  will  live  in  grateful  and  affectionate 
remembrance  in  the  history  of  an  active  and  ever-growing 
Church,  for  years  and  generations  yet  to  come.  It  will  not  only 
be  perpetuated  by  this  volume,  which  is  monumental  to  his 
memory,  but  already  several  churches,  within  the  States  of  New 
Jersey  and  Pennsylvania,  have  taken  his  name,  and  a  popular 
camp-meeting  ground  in  Southern  New  Jersey,  has  been  called 
after  his  name,  "  Pitman  Grove,"  which  each  year  of  its  history 
has  been  growing  in  interest  and  popularity,  and  bids  fair  to 
finally  develop  into  a  large  sized  country  town  or  city. 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

REMINISCENCES   OF   REV.    CHARLES   PITMAN,   D.D. 
REV.    D.   W.    BARTINE,   D.D. 

THE  late  Rev.  D.  W.  Bartine,  D.D.,  gives  the  following  as  be- 
ing his  personal  recollections  of  Rev.  Charles  Pitman,  D.D. : 

"  The  late  and  lamented  Dr.  Pitman  was  among  the  men  of  my  earliest 
recollections.  I  was  but  a  child  when  I  first  became  familiar  with  his 
face,  as  a  frequent  visitor  at  my  father's  house.  When  he  first  com- 
menced his  ministry  he  was  exceedingly  diffident  and  reserved,  and  bore 
an  air  of  solemn  aspect  and  recollected  frame  of  mind.  From  the  very 
first  of  his  public  efforts  he  promised  great  usefulness  to  the  church  of 
his  fellowship  and  choice,  and  to  the  cause  of  Christ.  Though  too 
young  myself  to  judge,  yet  such  were  the  opinions  expressed  of  him  in 
my  childhood's  hearing,  by  the  intelligent  and  matured  men  of  those 
times,  that  I  cannot  remember  even  to  have  looked  upon  him,  or  to  have 
thought  of  him,  other  than  a  great,  as  well  as  a  good,  man — an  able 
minister  of  Christ. 

"  The  name  of  Charles  Pitman  deserves  a  high  place  among  those  of 
his  compeers,  as  well  as  among  the  bright  and  blessed  names  engraven 
upon  the  memories  and  affections  of  the  church.  Born,  as  he  was,  in  humble 
life,  and  beyond  the  pale  of  affluence,  he  was  necessarily  deprived  in  his 
youth  of  the  opportunity  of  mental  culture,  afforded  in  those  times,  al- 
most exclusively  to  the  children  of  the  affluent,  and  comparatively  rich, 
yet  he  struggled  on  through  all  his  difficulties  and  adverse  circumstances, 
until  he  gained  the  high  position  which  he  so  eminently  occupied  in  the 
church;  a  position  only  attainable,  even  by  genius  itself,  and  by  labori- 
ous effort,  sanctified  and  directed  by  the  grace  of  God  in  the  human 
heart. 

"  Though  not  a  learned  man  in  the  sense  of  the  schools,  he  was  well 
versed  in  all  that  was  necessary  to  constitute  the  superior  and  efficient 
minister  of  Christ.  Judging  from  the  universal  and  continued  interest 
his  ministry  excited,  the  unction  which  attended  it,  and  the  fruits  which 

259 


260  LIFE   OF   REV.    CHARLES   PITMAN,   D.D.  ^ 

followed  it,  he  well  deserved  to,  and  did  stand  shoulder  to  shoulder  with, 
the  '  very  chiefest '  of  the  preachers  of  his  day. 

"  In  all  the  departments  of  ministerial  duty  to  which  he  was  called,  he 
was  superior,  and  in  some  respects  he  greatly  excelled.  Perhaps  in  no 
position  to  which  he  was  ever  assigned,  was  he  as  great  and  successful, 
as  when  he  was  in  the  office  of  Presiding  Elder.  Here  he  was  not  only 
at  home,  but  especially  so.  It  was  a  common  opinion  and  saying  among 
the  people  of  New  Jersey  that  he  was  made  to  be  a  Presiding  Elder, 
and  that  for  more  than  four  consecutive  years  should  he  be  appointed  to 
a  district. 

"At  Camp  and  Quarterly  Meetings  he  was  remarkably  happy  and 
successful  in  his  ministrations.  On  these  occasions  great  multitudes 
thronged  to  hear  him,  very  many  of  whom  were  no  friends  to  Method- 
ism, nor  of  Methodist  preachers,  thousands  of  whom  are  yet  living  in 
New  Jersey,  who  will  never  forget,  in  time,  nor  eternity,  the  sermons 
which  he  delivered  on  these  occasions,  for  under  them  they  were 
awakened  to  a  sense  of  their  guilt  and  sin,  and  by  them  induced  to  come 
to  Christ  for  salvation. 

"  Some  of  the  effects  of  his  Camp  Meeting  sermons  were  wont  to  re- 
mind us  of '  the  day  of  Pentecost,'  for  though  it  could  not  be  said  that 
'  three  thousand  were  added  to  the  church  in  one  day,'  yet  it  should  be 
said  that  hundreds  were  awakened  under  a  single  sermon,  and  went  to 
their  homes  to  seek  and  find  that  Jesus,  whom  the  minister  had  preached 
to  them,  and  to  greatly  swell  the  ranks,  not  only  of  Methodism,  but  of 
our  sister  churches. 

"  In  the  summer  of  1831,  I  think  it  was,  whilst  he  was  Presiding 
Elder  of  what  was  then  called  the  '  East  Jersey  District,'  he  presided 
over  a  camp-meeting,  held  within  a  few  miles  of  the  city  of  New  Bruns- 
wick, on  Friday  of  which  he  preached  one  of  those  sermons  for  which  he 
was  remarkable  on  such  occasions.  It  was  clear  in  its  doctrinal  exposi- 
tion, cogent  in  its  argument  and  powerfully  awakening  in  its  results.  A 
large  number  were  converted  to  God  before  the  meetings  closed,  which  was 
on  the  following  morning,  but  hundreds  left  the  encampment  with  the  vows 
of  God  deep  in  their  hearts,  saying  as  they  went,  "  What  shall  we  do  f  " 
the  result  of  which  was  a  very  great  addition  to  the  communicant  mem- 
bers of  other  denominations  of  Christians,  for  Methodism,  having  then 
little,  or  no  foot-hold  in  that  section  of  the  State,  had  it  not  in  its  power  to 
gather  in  itsown  fruits.  I  have  no  doubt  but  that  the  great  day  of  eternity 
will  reveal  the  fact,  that  at  least  three  thousand  souls  received  deep  and 
awakening  impressions  at  that  camp-meeting. 

"I  have  frequently  listened  with  deep  interest  to  a  narrative  of  there- 


REMINISCENCES.  261 

suits  of  one  of  his  efforts  in  another  section  of  New  Jersey.  It  was  on  the 
sea-coast,  where  our  church  was  quite  feeble,  and  where  our  Calvinistic 
friends  were  largely  in  the  ascendency.  It  was  at  the  extreme  south  of 
what  was  then  known  in  the  Philadelphia  Conference  as  the  '  West 
Jersey  District,'  of  which  he  was  Presiding  Elder ;  a  camp-meeting  was 
appointed  with  much  '  fear  and  trembling,'  and  great  anxiety  as  to  re- 
sults. In  due  time  it  commenced,  under  favorable,  though  not  very 
promising  auspices. 

"  The  ministers  of  Christ  had  preached  well  and  acceptably  to  the 
people,  and  a  goodly  number  were  awakened  and  converted  to  God,  and 
matters  looked,  as  we  say  of  ordinary  religious  promise,  '  encouraging.' 
I  think  he  was  a  stranger  to  many  of  the  people  of  this  particular  part 
of  the  State,  excepting  that  '  the  new  Elder's  fame  had  preceded  him. 
It  was  expected  that  he  would  preach,  as  Presiding  Elders  always  did 
in  those  times,  '  on  the  big  day  of  the  camp-meeting,'  and  a  large  cou- 
course  of  people  had  assembled  to  hear  him. 

"He  introduced  his  sermon  without  saying  anything  remarkable,  but 
soon  after  he  had  fairly  opened  his  subject  the  attention  of  his  large 
audience  became  profound  and  affecting,  and  soon  tears  began  to  course 
each  other,  from  eyes  unused  to  weeping.  When  he  had  proceeded  about 
two-thirds  the  way  through  his  discourse,  the  power  of  God  fell  upon  the 
people  as  that  community  had  never  witnessed  it  before.  Many  in  that 
great  assembly,  in  a  moment,  fell  like  men  slain  in  battle.  The  pecu- 
liarity of  the  occasion  was,  that  it  moved,  as  though  a  tornado  had 
struck  the  congregation,  making  an  opening  through  it,  some  ten  or 
twelve  feet  in  width.  '  The  slain  of  the  Lord  were  many,'  the  formalist 
and  the  profane,  the  young  and  the  old,  alike  were  prostrated  by  the 
mighty  hand  of  God.  The  victory  was  complete.  Many  were  con- 
verted before  the  close  of  the  meeting,  and  a  number  whilst  the  tents 
were  being  taken  down  and  removed,  and  so  great  was  the  influence  of 
the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  upon  the  people  that  a  subscription  was  started 
for  a  new  church,  which  was  in  due  time  erected,  and  remains  a  preach- 
ing-place to  this  day.  It  was  at  this  camp-meeting,  and  for  this  church, 
that  a  man  who  had  lately  been  converted,  when  solicited  for  a  subscrip- 
tion towards  the  new  church,  said  he  had  no  money  to  give,  but  he  had  a 
flock  of  sheep  which  he  would  give,  and  they  might  be  sold  and  the  pro- 
ceeds be  applied  to  the  building  of  the  church. 

"It  was  at  this  camp>meeting  that  a  man  shouted  to  the  glory  of  the 
preacher.  A  young  convert,  but  an  elderly  man,  was  so  full  of  joy  and 
gratitude  that  he  could  not  remain  silent.  Not  satisfied,  seemingly,  with 
giving  glory  to  God,  he  shouted,  '  glory  be  to  the  preacher,  too.'  Being  re- 


262  LIFE   OF   REV.    CHARLES   PITMAN,    D.D. 

minded  that  the  preachers  were  only  instruments,  and  that  the  glory  be- 
longed to  God  only,  he,  for  a  while  shouted,  'glory  to  God  ! '  but  his  full 
soul  could  not  stop  with  this ;  and  he  cried  out  at  the  top  of  his  voice, 
'Glory  be  to  God,  and  to  Bro.  Pitman  too.' 

"Dr.  Pitman  was  a  man  of  fine  and  commanding  presence.  He  would 
be  considered  just  '  the  timber  for  a  bishop.'  His  head,  though  not  mas- 
sive, after  the  Webster  or  the  Olin  order,  was  finely  formed,  and  indi- 
cated no  mean  order  of  intellect.  His  eyes  were  dark -grey,  and  were 
very  expressive.  His  voice  was  of  unusual  sweetness,  and  of  great  com- 
pass and  power,  and  so  superior  was  his  gift  in  this  particular,  that  I 
have  often  heard  it  called  '  his  strength.'  But  beyond  all  question  he 
was  specially  so  gifted,  that  when  it  was  set  to  the  story  of  the  cross,  it 
was  the  sweetest  kind  of  earthly  music.  When  he  became  fully  fired 
with  his  theme,  then  it  was  that  his  hearers  were  generally  and  deeply 
moved,  and  sometimes  amazingly  overwhelmed. 

"  If  his  sermons  were  not  what  might  be  called  great  intellectual  treats, 
after  the  lecture  or  essay  order,  they  were,  what  was  far  more  in  place  in 
the  sacred  desk,  gospel  treats  of  the  highest  order,  refreshing  and  ani- 
mating as  the  waters  of  life,  flowing  out  of  the  throne  of  God.  He  was 
a  man  of  strong  sympathies  and  susceptible  of  deep  emotions,  (all  great 
men  are  so,)  and  whilst  he  handled  error  and  sin  with  a  masterly  and  un- 
eparing  hand,  he  watered  his  entreaties  to  sinners  with  his  tears,  and 
won  multitudes  to  Christ  and  Heaven.  He  wrote  but  little.  I  know 
not  that  he  ever  published  a  sermon.  '  A  few  brief  sketches  of  mission- 
ary meetings  and  their  successes,  and  of  camp-meetings  he  visited  while 
missionary  secretary,  and  two  or  three  letters  while  in  the  pastorate,  of 
his  work,  are  all  the  printed  matter  we  have  from  his  pen.  He  contrib- 
uted some  very  fine  poetical  effusions  to  a  number  of  friends,  having 
albums,  and  requesting  an  offering  from  friendship's  hand ;  they  are  ex- 
quisite in  their  character,  and  of  a  most  delicate  taste  and  composition, 
and  exhibit  the  sweet  and  refined,  the  chaste  and  pure  character  of  his 
noble  mind.'  *  I  knew  him,  loved  him  ;  lovely  and  pleasant  are  my 
memories  of  him  at  this  hour." 

Dated  Lancaster,  Pa.,  January  30,  1856. 

REV.    J.    L.    GILDER,  D.D. 

The  late  Rev.  J.  L.  Gilder,  D.D.,  of  the  New  York  Con- 
ference, who  was  long  and  intimately  acquainted  with  Dr.  Pit- 
man, says  of  him : 

*  The  Author. 


REMINISCENCES.  263 

"  Few  persons  have  been  so  largely  endowed  by  nature  with  those  ex- 
terior qualities  which  contribute  to  form  an  effective  public  speaker.  In 
stature  he  was  above  the  medium  height.  His  physique  was  well 
developed.  His  features  were  finely  moulded,  and  were  expressive 
of  intelligence,  benevolence  and  firmness;  a  luxuriant  growth  of 
black,  glossy,  curly  hair  crowning  the  whole,  and  rendering  him, 
whether  in  the  pulpit,  the  social  circle,  or  on  the  street,  a  subject  of 
observation. 

"In  quality  of  voice  he  had  no  superior.  It  was  cast  in  nature's  finest 
mould.  Its  volume  was  great ;  his  most  subdued  tones  compassing  the 
largest  audiences,  in  camp  or  church.  Had  his  utterances  been  wholly 
unintelligible,  his  voice  would  have  captivated  and  charmed  the  ear,  and 
have  produced  a  weird  pensiveuess  like  the  distant  murmur  of  the  rest- 
less ocean.  The  most  marked  feature  of  his  voice  was  its  pathos ;  hence 
the  simple  reading  of  the  introductory  hymn  in  public  service  brought 
the  feelings  of  the  hearers  into  immediate  sympathy  with  the  speaker. 
In  manner  he  was  entirely  free  from  cant  and«affectation ;  in  gesticula- 
tion he  was  dignified  and  graceful.  His  emotional  nature  was  highly 
susceptible,  was  readily  stirred,  and  would  find  expression  in  the  moist- 
ened eye  and  pathetic  voice. 

"  His  command  of  language  was  remarkably  felicitous,  and  his  ideas 
were  always  conveyed  with  precision  and  clearness,  which  rendered  them 
intelligible  to  the  most  uncultivated  mind.  Being  of  a  practical,  rather 
than  a  rhetorical  cast  of  mind,  he  never  surprised  you  by  bold  or  sudden 
flights  of  oratory,  or  rich  and  glowing  imagery  ;  much  less  did  he  resort 
to  clap-trap  or  quaintness  of  expression  for  effect,  and  thereby  weaken 
the  force  of  truth  ;  nor  did  he  indulge  in  humor  or  attempted  sallies  of 
wit,  and  so  excite  mirthful  ness  at  the  expense  of  profit. 

"  Forty  and  fifty  years  ago  the  preaching  of  the  Methodist  ministry  was 
mostly  doctrinal  and  controversial.  The  dogmas  of  Calvinism  were 
openly  inculcated  from  the  pulpits  of  the  leading  denominations,  and 
were  generally  received  as  the  standard  of  orthodoxy.  The  Methodists, 
as  a  sect,  were  everywhere  spoken  against,  and  the  preachers  were  de- 
nounced as  ignorant  innovators.  The  Friends,  then  a  numerous  and  in- 
fluential body,  were  being  convulsed  and  rent  by  the  teachings  of  the 
venerable  Elias  Hicks,  who  assailed,  with  ingenuity  and  enthusiasm, 
the  doctrines  of  the  supreme  divinity  of  Christ.  His  social  position,  his 
tall  and  patriarchal  appearance  and  manners,  commanded  universal  at- 
tention and  respect,  and  the  heresy  he  taught  swept  through  portions  of 
New  York,  Pennsylvania,  and  the  Southern  Sections  of  New  Jersey, 
agitating  the  religious  mind  of  the  entire  country.  It  was  at  this  period 


264  LIFE   OF    REV.    CHARLES   PITMAN,    D.D. 

that  Mr.  Pitman,  then  a  comparatively  young  man,  appeared  as  Presid- 
ing Elder  of  the  '  West  Jersey  District,'  which  extended  from  the  Rari- 
tan  River,  on  the  north,  to  Cape  May,  on  the  south. 

"  His  fame  as  a  preacher  preceded  him  everywhere ;  whether  at  quar- 
terly meetings,  or  camp-meetings,  the  people  resorted  in  crowds  to  hear 
him.  The  popular  errors  referred  to,  he  combated  with  Scripture  and 
reason.  With  great  pathos  and  unction  he  vindicated  the  supreme  di- 
vinity of  Christ,  and  proclaimed  the  freeness,  fullness  and  universality 
of  the  atonement.  Probably  no  one  person  contributed  more  largely 
than  he  to  disabuse  the  popular  mind  of  theological  errors  that  counter- 
vailed the  success  of  the  gospel.  He  infused  his.  own  spirit  into  the 
preachers ;  he  awakened  new  enthusiasm  among  the  members,  and  revi- 
vals followed  on  a  grander  scale  than  was  ever  before  witnessed  in  that 
region.  He  became  the  idol  of  the  people,  and  to  this  day  the  name  of 
Charles  Pitman  is  a  household  word  throughout  New  Jersey. 

"  In  the  early  years  of  Mr.  Pitman's  ministry  he  was  stationed  in  the 
city  of  New  Brunswick,  N.  J.  The  society  being  small  and  pecuniarily 
weak  were  accustomed  to  solicit  contributions  from  friends  outside,  for 
the  support  of  the  gospel.  Among  those  who  contributed  was  Mr. 
Bishop,  father  of  the  Hon.  James  Bishop,  a  prominent  merchant,  who, 
with  his  family,  was  an  attendant  at  the  Reformed  Dutch  Church.  On 
Sunday  evening  he  said  to  Mrs.  Bishop,  '  Wife,  let  us  go  to  the  Methodist 
Church  and  get  our  dollar's  worth.'  They  went,  and  were  so  delighted 
with  the  minister  and  the  sermon  that  they  soon  repeated  their  visit,  the 
result  of  which  was  their  becoming  identified  with  the  interests  of  Meth- 
odism, and  it  proving  a  valuable  acquisition. 

"In  the  City  of  Philadelphia,  where  Mr.  Pitman  spent  several  years 
of  his  pastorate,  the  same  popularity  and  success  attended  him.  Crowds 
were  attracted  to  his  ministry,  and  many  were  added  to  the  church. 

"  The  years  of  1837  and  1838,  he  being  then  pastor  of  St.  George's 
Church  in  that  city,  were  remarkable  for  his  success.  It  was  estimated 
that  during  a  period  of  eight  weeks  alone,  there  were  between  seven  and 
eight  hundred  conversions.  A  number,  who  became  preachers,  were  re- 
ported as  being  the  fruit  of  that  revival,  and  it  necessitated  the  erection, 
or  rather  purchasing,  and  refitting  of  another  house  of  worship  in  that 
section  of  the  city. 

"  When  at  the  zenith  of  his  popularity  he  was  called  to  the  position 
of  Missionary  Secretary  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  as  successor 
to  Rev.  Dr.  Bangs,  who  had  been  elected  to  the  presidency  of  the  Wes- 
leyan  University.  In  the  new  sphere  Dr.  Pitman  acquitted  himself  with 
great  acceptability.  It  was,  however,  reluctantly  conceded  by  hia 


REMINISCENCES.  265 

friends  that  it  was  not  the  position  for  which  he  was  the  most  eminently 
qualified ;  and  though  his  selection  from  among  so  many  ministers  of 
eminence  was  highly  complimentary  to  his  ability,  it  was  regarded  by 
many  as  a  coming  down  from  the  high  position  to  which,  by  his  unusual 
natural  endowments,  and  a  long  career  of  success,  he  was  peculiarly 
adapted,  and  in  which  he  always  had  excelled.  There  is  little  doubt 
that  the  cares  and  anxieties  of  the  office — for  the  missionary  work  was 
then  in  its  formative  state,  and  he  was  of  an  exquisitely  sensitive  nature 
— superinduced  the  disease  which  impaired  his  nervous  system,  and  ne- 
cessitated his  retirement  from  active  service  in  the  church.  Intelligence 
of  the  prostration  of  his  health  was  received  with  the  deepest  regret  by 
an  extended  circle,  both  of  the  ministry  and  laity,  and  many  were  the 
devout  prayers  that  ascended  to  God,  from  pulpit  and  closet,  and  hearth- 
stone, that  he  might,  if  possible,  be  restored  to  health  and  to  the  work 
of  the  Christian  Ministry,  and  when  at  last  the  tidings  went  forth  that 
Charles  Pitman  was  dead,  strong  men  bowed  their  heads  and  wept  to 
think  that  they  should  look  upon  his  face  no  more,  and  would  not  listen 
again  to  the  melting  strains  of  a  voice  that  had  so  often  thrilled  them 
with  intense  delight. 

"  A  Methodist  from  principle  and  choice,  Mr.  Pitman  was  devotedly 
attached  to  the  doctrines  and  economy  of  the  church.  And  feeling  that 
under  God,  he  was  indebted  to  Methodism  for  his  conversion  and  position, 
he  repelled  with  promptness  and  indignity  all  attempts  to  seduce  him 
from  his  loyalty,  and  to  induce  him  to  enter  the  ministry  of  other 
churches,  notwithstanding  they  presented  the  attractions  of  comparative 
ease  and  opulence.  There  have  been  ministers  of  more  varied  learning, 
of  more  profound  thought,  of  more  logical  acumen,  of  more  brilliancy 
of  imagination,  but  for  pulpit  power,  Charles  Pitman  stood  without  a 
rival.  The  venerable  Bishop  Hedding,  pronounced  him  the  greatest 
pulpit  orator  whom  he  ever  heard." 

MEMORIAL   OF   NEW   JERSEY  CONFERENCE   MINUTES. 

The  New  Jersey  Conference  Minutes,  of  April,  1854,  pays 
this  expressive  and  well-written  obituary  record  as  a  tribute  to 
Dr.  Pitman's  memory  : 

"REV.  CHARLES  PITMAN.— The  loss  of  this  Conference,  and  the 
Church  in  his  death,  was  of  no  ordinary  character.  For  the  long  period  of 
thirty-six  years  had  our  departed  brother  been  connected  as  a  Minister  of 
the  Gospel  -with  our  evangelical  labors  in  the  territory  occupied  by  this, 


266  LIFE   OF   REV.    CHARLES   PITMAN,    D.D. 

and  adjoining  conferences.  He  was  a  native  of  New  Jersey,  having  been 
born  near  Cookstown,  in  January,  1796.  He  was  happily  converted  to 
God  in  early  life,  and  developing  early  dispositions  and  qualifications 
for  usefulness,  he  was  licensed  to  exhort  at  the  Quarterly  Meeting  for 
New  Mills  Circuit  (now  Pemberton),  in  September,  1816,  and  as  a  local 
preacher  in  March,  1817."  Then  follows  a  list  of  the  appointments 
which  Mr.  Pitman  filled,  and  of  his  subsequent  appointment  as  corre- 
sponding secretary  of  the  missionary  society  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church. 

"  On  the  decline  of  his  health,  in  1850,  Dr.  Pitman  resigned  his  im- 
portant and  responsible  oifice,  and  retired  to  his  private  residence  in 
Trenton.  His  health  continued  to  fail  and  his  sufferings  to  increase, 
from  that  period  until  the  day  of  his  death,  January  14,  1854.  He  died 
in  the  triumphs  of  Christian  faith,  having  reached  the  age  of  58  years 
and  5  days. 

"  In  reviewing  the  life  and  labors  of  our  deceased  and  lamented 
brother,  we  find  occasion  for  the  expression  of  our  devout  gratitude  to 
God  for  having  raised  up  at  an  early  and  critical  period  of  the  history 
of  our  church,  a  minister  of  such  eminent  talents,  and  of  such  zealous 
and  efficient  labors.  Not  having  been  greatly  favored  with  early  scho- 
lastic advantages,  from  the  time  of  his  devotion  to  the  work  of  the  min- 
istry, Brother  Pitman  distinguished  himself  by  a  laborious  and  perse- 
vering application  to  books  and  study.  The  love  of  books  may  be  said 
to  have  been  with  him  '  a  ruling  passion,'  and  notwithstanding  the  in- 
convenience of  frequent  removals  in  the  itineracy,  he  accumulated,  and 
continued  to  keep  near  him  a  most  extensive  library. 

"  But  it  was  not  from  books  alone  that  he  drew  his  power ;  he  was  a  man 
full  of  faith  and  the  Holy  Ghost.  He  made  diligent  use  of  all  the  means 
within  his  reach  to  qualify  himself  for  his  great  work,  and  then  claimed, 
and  evidently  received,  the  promised  aid  of  his  Divine  Master.  Few,  if 
any,  better  and  more  powerful  preachers  of  the  Gospel  have  ever  stood 
upon  the  walls  of  our  Zion,  than  was  Charles  Pitman.  Commanding  in 
personal  appearance,  possessing  a  clear,  full,  musical  voice,  pervaded 
with  strong  and  lively  sympathies,  and  penetrated  to  his  very  soul  with 
an  overwhelming  sense  of  the  importance  of  the  message  he  brought 
from  God  to  man,  he  went  forth  as  an  humble,  but  zealous  ambassador 
of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Multitudes  hung  upon  his  lips  with  delight, 
and  were  moved  by  his  powerful  appeals.  Having  thoroughly  studied 
the  doctrinal  and  disciplinary  system  of  our  church,  he  became  its  able 
exponent  and  its  successful  defender. 
"  It  is  safe  to  say,  that  the  present  general  and  prosperous  extension 


REMINISCENCES.  267 

of  Methodism  throughout  the  State  of  New  Jersey,  is  owing  in  no  small 
degree,  to  the  timely  and  efficient  labors  of  our  departed  Brother  Pit- 
man. Many  who  preceded  him  to  the  land  of  rest,  and  many  who  still 
linger  in  the  company  of  the  faithful  on  earth,  will,  we  have  no  doubt, 
appear  in  the  great  and  final  day  as  the  seals  of  his  ministry. 

"  In  addition  to  his  qualifications  for  the  general  duties  of  the  minis- 
terial office,  Brother  Pitman  may  be  described  as  a  model  Presiding  El- 
der. Seven  years  of  his  mature  public  life  were  devoted  to  the  laborious 
and  responsible  duties  of  that  important  office  in  our  ministry,  and  most 
usefully  were  they  spent. 

"  In  the  office  of  Missionary  Secretary,  Dr.  Pitman  became  extensively 
and  familiarly  known  to  the  church  at  large,  and  his  eloquent  appeals 
in  behalf  of  the  heathen,  together  with  his  earnest  pleadings  for  the  ex- 
tension of  the  Gospel  throughout  the  world,  have  no  faint  echo  in  the 
rising  spirit  of  benevolence  which  continues  to  develop  itself  in  our 
church,  more  and  more,  with  each  succeeding  year  of  our  history. 

"  But  with  all  his  talents  as  a  man,  his  faith  and  zeal  as  a  Christian, 
and  his  power  as  a  minister,  called  of  God,  and  anointed  from  on  high, 
our  esteemed  and  lamented  brother  has  passed  away  from  earth.  While 
we  thank  God  for  his  usefulness  and  his  good  example,  let  us  imitate  his 
ministerial  diligence,  and  his  Christian  virtues,  and  may  the  mantle  of 
his  faith  and  success  descend  upon  many  of  his  sons  in  the  Gospel." 

REV.   JAMES   AYARS. 

Rev.  James  Avars,  who  was  converted  under  the  labors  of 
Mr.  Pitman,  in  the  year  1824,  in  Bridgeton,  N.  J.,  and  who 
was  for  many  years  a  member  of  the  New  Jersey  Conference, 
and  afterwards  of  the  Newark  Conference,  says : 

"  When  I  first  became  acquainted  with  Kev.  Charles  Pitman,  as 
early  as  the  year  1824,  he  was  then  a  young  man  about  twenty- 
eight  years  of  age.  In  person  he  was  of  stout  frame,  about  six 
feet  in  height  but  rather  of  a  delicate  constitution.  In  after  life,  his 
health  improved,  and  he  became  quite  fleshy.  His  general  appearance 
was  very  commanding.  He  had  a  fine  large  head,  moderately  high  fore- 
head, sunken  eyes,  rather  short  upper  lip,  dark  complexion  and  dark 
hair  with  a  naturally  serious  countenance.  I  have  frequently  been  struck 
with  the  strong  resemblance  between  his  likeness  and  that  of  the  cele- 
brated Robert  Hall,  of  England. 

"  When  I  first  became  acquainted  with  him  I  thought,  and,  after  an 


268  LIFE   OF   REV.    CHARLES   PITMAN,  D.D. 

observation  of  thirty-six  years,  I  still  think,  that  he  was,  taking  him  al- 
together, one  of  the  greatest  preachers  of  his  time.  Wherever  he 
preached  the  people  nocked  in  multitudes  to  hear  him,  and  often  the 
churches  could  not  contain  his  congregations.  His  usefulness  was  in 
proportion  to  his  ability.  Doubtless  thousands  have  been  awakened  un- 
der his  ministry  and  brought  to  Christ.  Mr.  Pitman  entered  the  minis- 
try when  very  young,  and  having  had  but  limited  advantages  for  intel- 
lectual culture,  but  such  was  his  application  to  study  and  personal  im- 
provement in  every  form,  and  so  superior  his  native  abilities,  that  he 
soon  became  a  man  of  mark,  and  in  due  time  a  theologian  of  extensive 
reading.  His  love  of  books  became  a  passion,  and  during  a  large  por- 
tion of  his  life  he  spent  a  great  part  of  his  limited  receipts  in  the  pur- 
chase of  volumes  that  he  prized,  So  far  as  he  could  command  time  he 
was  a  diligent  student,  and  thus  his  library  proved  to  him  of  incalcula- 
ble value. 

"  Dr.  Pitman  ranked  very  high  as  a  sound  and  able  theologian.  The 
circumstances  of  his  earlier  ministerial  life  involved  him  in  not  a  little 
public  controversy,  requiring  him  not  only  to  investigate  doctrinal  truth 
profoundly,  but  to  learn  and  to  practice  the  best  modes  of  its  inculcation, 
upon  the  public  mind ;  consequently  as  a  public  speaker,  he  had  but  few 
equals. 

"  This  oratory  was  not  of  the  scholastic  or  fictitious  type.  Like  Pat- 
rick Henry's,  it  was  the  oratory  of  nature.  His  voice  was  mellow  and 
full,  its  intonations  were  pleasant,  and  the  modulation  entirely  under 
his  control.  The  expression  of  his  countenance,  when  preaching,  was 
glowing  and  sympathetic,  evincing  the  deep  interest  he  felt  in  the  spir- 
itual welfare  of  his  congregation." 

"  His  manner  in  the  pulpit  was  dignified,  yet  humble  ;  indicating  on 
the  one  hand  his  view  of  the  high  position  he  occupied,  and  on  the  other 
how  sensibly  he  felt  his  weakness  and  insufficiency  for  the  holy  duties 
which  he  was  called  to  perform,  and  his  entire  dependence  upon  God  for 
ministerial  success. 

"  He  equally  despised  witticism  and  bombast,  and  used  plain  words  to 
express  sound  and  sober  sense.  He  respected  his  hearers,  and  they  re- 
spected and  reverenced  him.  He  recognized  the  true  relation  between 
judgment  and  feeling,  and  when,  by  solid  argument,  he  had  convinced 
the  understanding,  he  knew  no  law  of  philosophy  which  forbade  his  ap- 
pealing to  the  emotions,  and  enlisting  them  in  the  fear  and  service  of 
God.  '  The  Unction  of  the  Holy  One,'  was  a  favorite  expression  with 
him,  and  rarely  in  any  man's  ministry  has  it  been  more  gloriously  exem- 
plified than  it  often  was  in  his. 


REMINISCENCES.  269 

"In  the  commencement  of  his  sermons  he  was  usually  argumentative, 
but,  having  stated  his  doctrinal  points  and  defended  them,  he  would  pass 
to  the  Christian  dutiea  based  upon  those  doctrines,  and,  after  sufficiently 
enforcing  them,  would  again  pass  to  the  Christian  privileges  connected 
with  them.  And  as  he  advanced  in  his  sermons,  his  emotions  would 
rise,  and,  carrying  his  congregation  with  him,  he  often  became  over- 
whelmed with  his  subject  and  the  responsibility  of  his  position  as  an  am- 
bassador of  Christ,  and  at  such  times  he  would  give  utterance  to  his  feel- 
ings in  the  language  of  the  weeping  prophet :  '  Oh !  that  my  head  were 
water  and  mine  eyes  a  fountain  of  tears,  that  I  might  weep  day  and 
night  for  the  slain  of  the  daughter  of  my  people.'  Upon  such  occasions 
his  congregation  would  sympathize  with  him  to  such  an  extent  that 
scarcely  a  heart  could  be  found  unaffected,  or  cheek  not  bathed  in  tears ; 
often,  too,  the  exhibitions  of  feeling  were  frequently  those  of  unbounded 

joy. 

"  An  illustration  of  this  occurred  at  a  camp-meeting,  near  Plainfield, 
N.  J.,  while  he  was  on  the  '  East  Jersey  District.'  His  text  was  Rom. 
viii.  17,  'And  if  children  then  heirs,  heirs  of  God,  and  joint  heirs  with 
Christ,  if  so  be  that  we  suffer  with  him,  we  shall  also  reign  with  him.' 
Having  treated  the  subject  doctrinally,  practically  and  experimentally, 
rising  by  degrees  all  through  his  discourse,  when  he  came  to  speak  of 
the  blessedness  of  the  heirship,  he  was  wholly  absorbed  with  the  grand- 
eur and  glory  of  his  theme,  until,  reaching  a  sublime  climax  of  emotion 
and  oratory,  he  asked  triumphantly,  'Heirs  of  what?  a  hundred  acres  of 
land?  No.  A  few  thousand  dollars  in  gold?  No.  A  kingdom  or  a  throne 
on  this  earth?  No.'  Then,  ascending  to  the  loftiest  possible  summit  of 
overmastering  eloquence,  his  voice  full,  melodious,  and  clear,  as  the 
tones  of  a  silver  bell,  yet  towering  to  its  sublime  pitch,  the  echoes  were 
heard  through  the  forest  a  mile  or  more,  as  he  asked  again  :  '  Heirs  of 
what?'  Then,  with  a  soul  overflowing  with  divine  emotions,  answered  : 
'  Heirs  of  God,  and  joint  heirs  with  Jesus  Christ,  to  an  inheritance  incor- 
ruptible, undented  and  that  fadeth  not  away,  reserved  in  heaven  for  you.' 

"The  effect  was  overpowering,  and  the  saints  of  the  Most  High  in  an 
ecstasy  of  joy  felt  that  they  were  scarcely  any  longer  heirs,  but  had  al- 
ready entered  upon  their  bright  and  eternal  inheritance.  Here,  then, 
in  his  commanding  style,  his  well-arranged  discourses,  his  sound  theolo- 
gy, his  earnestness  of  spirit,  his  sympathetic  nature  and  his  baptized 
soul,  we  have  the  key  to  his  great  popularity  and  power. 

"While  in  the  pastorate  he  had  very  extensive  revivals  of  religion, 
receiving  into  the  church,  as  the  fruits,  sometimes  as  many  as  three  or 
four  hundred  in  a  revival.  About  seven  years  of  his  ministerial  life  were 


270  LIFE   OF   REV.   CHARLES   PITMAN,   D.D. 

spent  in  the  office  of  Presiding  Elder.  This  position  furnished  him  an 
ample  opportunity  for  the  exercise  of  his  popular  and  useful  talents,  and 
faithfully  did  he  employ  them  during  that  period  throughout  the  entire 
State  of  New  Jersey.  When  it  was  known  that  he  would  preach  at  a 
camp-meeting,  whether  among  the  pines  of  the  Atlantic  Coast  or  in  the 
neighborhood  of  the  great  cities,  or  among  the  mountains  bordering  the 
Delaware  River,  the  whole  country,  for  miles  around,  would  be  on  the 
move.  Not  infrequently  would  he  have  five,  six  or  seven  thousand 
persons  to  hear  him  preach  on  such  occasions.  At  such  times  I  have 
seen  his  audience  apparently  chained  to  the  spot  for  two,  or  two  and  a 
half  hours  at  a  time,  forgetful  of  everything  but  the  great  theme  of  the 
redemption  of  a  lost  world,  upon  which  he  dwelt.  Toward  the  latter 
part  of  his  sermon,  unconsciously  and  instinctively,  the  people  of  his 
congregations  would  rise,  one  after  another,  until  the  whole  would  be  on 
their  feet,  and  at  the  close  it  would  be  difficult  to  distinguish  between 
the  rejoicing  Christian  and  the  weeping  of  awakened  sinners.  It  would 
seem  as  if  heaven  had  been  brought  down  to  earth,  or  earth  had  been 
lifted  to  heaven. 

"  Although  uniformly  an  extemporaneous  speaker,  he  was  accustomed 
to  make  laborious  and  careful  preparation  for  the  pulpit  by  means  of  the 
pen.  He  wrote  many  sermons  in  full,  not  for  the  purpose  of  either  read- 
ing or  memorizing  them,  but  for  the  sake  of  disciplining  his  mind  to 
thought  and  language,  and  also  for  the  purpose  of  putting  his  best 
thoughts  on  important  subjects  into  convenient  form  for  reference,  when 
he  might  have  occasion  to  treat  those  subjects  again. 

"  When  in  the  full  exercise  of  his  noble  powers,  he  once  said  to  a 
friend  :  '  I  should,  perhaps,  write  no  sermons,  were  I  sure  I  should  al- 
ways have  the  same  activity  of  mind  that  I  now  possess,  but  as  I  cannot 
reasonably  expect  this,  I  deem  it  but  prudent  to  make  preparation,  when 
I  can,  for  coming  days  of  mental  decline  or  physical  feebleness.'  To 
his  friends  who  were  cognizant  of  the  state  of  mind  and  body,  during 
the  last  few  years  of  his  life,  these  words  will  seem  a8  prophetic  as  they 
were  discreet,  and  full  of  wisdom  for  the  guidance  of  others. 

"  His  natural  temperament  was  highly  nervous.  At  times  he  was  sub- 
ject to  a  great  flow  of  spirits,  which  made  him  exceedingly  companiona- 
ble, and  at  other  times  to  great  mental  depression,  which  very  much 
abridged  his  personal  enjoyment.  He  was  a  fast  and  firm  friend.  He 
was  ambitious,  but  his  ambition  was  of  an  exalted  kind.  It  was  his 
pleasure  to  place  others  on  a  proper  level,  and  then  endeavor  to  rise 
above  them — not  so  much,  however,  in  position  as  usefulness. 

"  In  the  missionary  secretaryship  he  excelled  in  the  eloquent  presen- 


REMINISCENCES.  271 

tation  of  the  glorious  provisions  of  the  gospel,  as  adapted  to  every  de- 
scendant of  fallen  Adam,  and  most  powerfully  would  he  urge  the  mo- 
tives for  its  dissemination.  The  management  of  its  finances,  however, 
was  not  congenial  to  his  mind  or  habits ;  a  large  correspondence  was  a 
burden  to  him,  and  he  always  delighted  less  in  platform  speeches  than 
in  the  more  substantial,  and,  as  he  regarded  it,  more  religious  mode  of 
pulpit  address. 

"  But,  as  has  been  said,  with  all  his  talents  as  a  man,  his  faith  and 
zeal  as  a  Christian,  his  power  as  a  minister,  called  and  anointed  from  on 
high,  there  were  better  things  in  reserve  for  him,  and  so,  on  Saturday, 
the  13th  of  January,  1854,  in  the  triumphs  of  the  glorious  gospel,  God 
took  him  to  himself,  aged  fifty-eight  years  and  five  days." 

REV.   JOHN    KENNADAY,   D.D. 

The  late  Rev.  John  Kennaday,  D.D.,  in  a  letter  to  the  late 
Rev.  William  B.  Sprague,  D.  D.,  of  Albany,  N.  Y.,  in  reference 
to  inserting  a  biographical  sketch  of  Rev.  Dr.  Pitman  in  his 
"  Annals  of  the  American  Pulpit,"  says  : 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR,  You  are  right  in  giving  the  late  Dr.  Charles 
Pitman  a  place  among  the  subjects  of  your  work,  as  he  was  un- 
doubtedly one  of  the  most  distinguished  ministers  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church.  During  a  period  of  twenty  years,  I  was  accustomed 
to  hear  him  preach  frequently,  and  on  various  occasions,  and,  through 
the  same,  enjoyed  the  intimate  intercourse  with  him  resulting  from  mu- 
tual and  uninterrupted  friendship. 

"  The  personal  appearance  and  carriage  of  Dr.  Pitman  were  highly 
favorable  to  his  vocalion.  A  little  above  the  ordinary  stature,  his  form 
was  well  proportioned.  His  head  had  a  gentle  inclination  forward,  but 
not  enough  to  form  a  stoop.  His  complexion  was  slightly  sallow,  his 
eye  dark,  active  and  flaming,  while  a  soft  melancholy  seemed  almost 
constantly  to  pervade  his  countenance.  His  entire  appearance,  when 
he  arose  to  address  an  assembly,  was  in  a  high  degree  impressive.  His 
voice  was  of  great  compass,  and  capable  of  being  modulated  to  the  best 
advantage,  and  he  used  it  in  admirable  harmony  with  the  sentiment  he 
uttered,  and  with  a  flexibility  rarely  equalled. 

"  His  mental  powers  were  remarkably  well-balanced.  Of  these  the 
more  prominent  were  a  vigorous  and  discriminating  judgment,  ready 
perception,  active  imagination  and  strong  memory.  His  pulpit  efforts 
always  bore  the  impress  of  these  characteristic  features  of  his  mind, 


272  LIFE   OF   REV.    CHARLES   PITMAN,  D.D. 

while  they  were  not  less  remarkable  for  a  tone  of  evangelical  fervor. 
He  was  emphatically  a  preacher  of  the  cross — the  doctrine  of  the  Atone- 
ment was  his  favorite  theme  ;  and  it  was  this  and  other  doctrines  essen- 
tially connected  with  it,  or  growing  out  of  it,  that  awoke  his  faculties 
into  the  most  vigorous  and  glowing  exercise.  Sometimes,  when  the 
multitudes  were  hanging' upon  his  lips,  as  he  was  holding  up  a  crucified 
Saviour,  one  could  hardly  help  thinking  of  that  '  burning  and  shining 
light '  who,  in  the  wilderness  of  Judea,  pointed  to  '  the  Lamb  of  God.' 
All  who  heard  him  felt  that  his  utterances  were  from  the  depths  of  his 
heart,  and  many,  very  many,  received  with  faith  the  word  of  truth, 
which  he  proclaimed. 

"  Notwithstanding  the  embarrassing  circumstances  attendant  upon  his 
frequent  changes,  a*  an  itinerant  minister,  Dr.  Pitman  was  a  diligent 
student  and  had  gathered  a  very  valuable  library.  His  extraordinary 
early  popularity  having  awakened  high  expectations  in  the  public  mind 
concerning  him,  he  sought,  by  the  most  assiduous  culture,  to  render 
himself  a  workman  needing  not  to  be  ashamed,  and  he  certainly  attained 
his  object  in  no  common  degree.  During  his  ministry,  either  upon  the 
circuit  in  the  station,  or  as  a  Presiding  Elder,  he  was  in  labor  more 
abundant ;  insomuch  that  I  doubt  exceedingly  whether  any  other  man 
ever  preached  to  so  many  people  in  the  State  of  New  Jersey,  where  a 
large  portion  of  his  labor  was  bestowed.  He  also  filled  some  of  the  most 
important  pulpits  in  Philadelphia,  and  there,  also,  his  popularity  and 
success  were  almost  unequalled.  As  Corresponding  Secretary  of  the 
Missionary  Society  of  the  Methodist  Church,  his  labors  were  more  widely 
diffused,  extending  indeed  over  the  entire  country,  yet  his  efficiency  was 
apparent  in  the  largely  increasing  usefulness  of  the  society. 

"  His  active  ministerial  character  was  the  subject  of  admiration  with 
multitudes,  and  it  has  left  an  abiding  impression,  especially  upon  the 
conference,  in  the  bosom  of  which  he  died.  His  more  private  deport- 
ment as  a  Christian  was  in  happy  unison  with  his  public  position.  Gen- 
erous and  sympathizing  as  a  friend,  and  cherishing  no  resentment 
towards  any,  cheerful  without  levity,  and  affable  without  affectation,  his 
whole  life  was  a  beautiful  illustration  of  that  blessed  religion  which  it 
was  his  vocation  to  recommend. 

"  When  health  failed  him,  and  it  was  necessary  for  him  to  withdraw 
from  all  active  labor,  he  accordingly  retired  to  Trenton,  where  he  had  a 
family  residence,  and  there  passed  his  remaining  days.  His  health 
continued  greatly  to  fail,  from  that  period  to  the  day  of  his  death. 
When  he  passed  serenely  and  joyfully  out  of  life,  at  the  age  of  fifty- 
eight  years,  leaving  behind  him  a  name  for  Christian  consistency  and 


REMINISCENCES.  273 

purity,  and  ministerial  ability,  fidelity  and  usefulness,  which  all  who 
knew  him  delight  to  honor. 

"  The  name  of  Dr.  Pitman  is  embalmed  in  the  reverence  and  grati- 
tude of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  though  the  amount  of  service 
that  he  performed  for  her  can  never  be  adequately  estimated  until  it  is 
contemplated  by  the  light  of  Heavenly  Glory.  •  Yours  Truly, 

"  REV.  JOHN  KENNADAY." 

REV.   G.   D.   CARROW,   D.D. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Carrow,  of  the  Philadelphia  Conference,  pays 
the  following  tribute  to  the  name  and  memory  of  Rev.  Dr. 
Pitman : 

"  In  the  spring  of  1843 1  attended  the  session  of  thePhila.  Conference, 
being  recommended  to  that  body  for  admission  on  trial  into  the  traveling 
connection.  I  was  an  uninformed  country  lad  in  my  nineteenth  year,  and 
had  heard  only  one  of  the  great  preachers  of  the  denomination.  Natur- 
ally I  was  disposed  to  improve  to  the  utmost  the  opportunities  of  the 
Conference  Sabbath.  Learning  that  Mr.  Pitman  (he  was  not  then  Dr. 
Pitman)  was  to  preach  at  St.  Paul's,  I  went  early,  and  with  that  precau- 
tion, but  barely  secured  a  seat.  The  late  Thomas  J.  Thompson  was 
pastor  of  the  church.  My  mind  was  filled  with  recollections  of  what  I 
had  heard  a  gifted  elderly  lady  say  of  Mr.  Pitman's  preaching.  When 
the  pastor  and  his  famous  substitute  for  the  morning  had  prayed  and 
taken  their  seats  in  the  pulpit,  a  simple  look  at  them  was  worth  more 
than  some  men's  sermons.  They  were  both  in  the  prime  of  their  ripe 
manhood,  and  as  ministers  of  Christ,  were  in  personal  presence,  as  in 
still  higher  gifts,  singularly  adapted  to  their  momentous  vocation.  The 
theme  of  the  preacher  was  the  Priesthood  of  Christ.  As  his  subject  be- 
gan to  glow  within  him,  and  his  heart  began  to  melt,  it  was  evident  that 
he  was  aiming  to  check,  rather  than  encourage  his  emotions.  Mean- 
while the  audience  was  beginning  to  feel  the  power  and  influence  that 
was  moving  the  preacher,  and  the  tide  of  emotion  kept  rising  higher  and 
higher,  yet  strange  to  say — strange  in  a  Methodist  audience  of  that  day 
— there  were  no  outbursts,  but  only  a  subdued  response  here  and  there. 
At  last  the  preacher  o'erwhelmed  by  the  tide  that  was  flowing  through 
his  soul,  was  obliged  to  pause  and  recover  strength  from  the  spiritual 
influence  that  was  filling  his  heart.  After  a  moment's  silence  he  re- 
sumed, by  begging  the  audience  '  to  excuse  him '  in  view  of  the  na- 
ture of  his  transcendently  glorious  theme.  It  was  so  overpowering  upon 
18 


274  LIFE  OF   REV.   CHARLES   PITMAN,   D.D. 

his  whole  nature  as  to  require  a  pause  for  a  return  of  vivifying  physical 
energy.  Mr.  Spurgeon,  in  several  respects  resembles  Dr.  Pitman,  and 
while  the  great  Baptist  is  master  of  a  wider  range  of  topics,  he  cannot 
move  an  audience  as  could  the  great  Methodist.  Dr.  Pitman  possessed 
wonderful  power  to  move  the  masses,  and  no  congregation  seemed  to 
weary  with  his  preaching,  even  though  continued  over  an  hour.  The 
Spirit  of  the  Lord  seemed  specially  present  on  every  occasion,  when  he 
preached,  or  addressed  people." 

REV.   RALPH   W.   ALLEN,   D.D. 

The  Rev.  Ralph  W.  Allen,  D.D.,  of  the  New  England  Con- 
ference, and  Corresponding  Secretary  of  the  "  New  England 
Methodist  Historical  Society,"  contributes  the  following  highly 
impressive  and  interesting  testimonial  to  the  memory  of  the 
great  and  lamented  Rev.  Dr.  Charles  Pitman.  Addressing  the 
author,  he  says : 

"  I  am  very  glad  to  learn  that  you  are  preparing  a  memorial  of  the 
life  of  that  great  and  excellent  man  of  God,  Eev.  Charles  Pitman,  D.D. 
Grand,  noble  man  he  was.  I  was  a  member  with  him  of  the  General 
Conference  in  Pittsburgh,  of  1848,  and  with  him  a  member  of  the  Com- 
mittee on  Missions,  of  which  he  was  chairman.  In  that  committee 
originated  the  idea  of  forming  an  annual  conference  on  the  Pacific 
coast,  and  largely  through  the  influence  of  Dr.  Pitman  the  project  was 
carried  through  the  committee  and  the  Conference  (though  through 
much  opposition).  It  proved  to  be  a  wise  movement  and  a  great  blessing 
to  the  church. 

"  Dr.  Pitman  seldom  visited  New  England  except  when  his  duties  re- 
quired him  to  attend  an  Annual  Conference  in  his  official  character  as 
Missionary  secretary,  and  to  attend -the  '  Martha's  Vineyard  Camp- 
Meeting.'  He  was  always  greeted  with  delight  at  the  Conferences,  and 
his  missionary  addresses  were  full  of  pressing  inspiration,  in  advance 
movements  on  the  territory  of  darkness,  and  thrilling  appeals  for  the 
world's  conversion,  by  which  the  missionary  interest  in  the  hearts  of  the 
preachers  received  an  inspiration  and  life  which  was  through  them  im- 
parted to  the  churches  and  congregations. 

"  Dr.  Pitman  attended  the  camp-meeting  at  Martha's  Vineyard  for 
several  years,  and  said  to  the  preachers  and  friends  who  gathered  in  his 
time  there  to  worship,  that  he  should  attend  it  annually  as  long  as  he 
was  able  to  go  anywhere.  His  presence  was  a  charm  and  delight  to  the 


REMINISCENCES.  275 

meeting.  Those  wonderful  sermons  and  addresses !  Who  that  heard 
them  can  ever  forget  them  ?  How  they  swayed  and  moved  the  vast  au- 
diences !  What  a  noble  physical  organization  did  he  possess,  and  how 
majestically  as  well  as  gracefully  and  appropriately  did  it  fill  the  pulpit, 
as  the  mouth-piece  of  God,  the  deputed  herald  of  salvation  to  a  sin- 
ruined  race.  What  a  voice !  as  soft,  sweet,  musical,  and  yet  full-toned 
and  melodious,  as  ever  came  from  human  lips.  What  a  deep,  pure,  heav- 
enly, heaven-inspired  spirit  breathed  in  every  word  and  utterance  of  his 
soul !  How  eager  the  vast  throng  to  catch  every  word  from  those  seem- 
ingly-inspired lips  !  What  tongue,  pen  or  pencil,  can  describe  the  good 
done. by  those  sermons  !  for  they  were  often  followed  by  immediate  and 
great  results,  and  though  the  definite  number  cannot  be  obtained  and 
numerically  stated,  the  Recording  Angel  did  not  fail  to  chronicle  them 
in  the  Lamb's  book  of  life.  What  happy  greetings  ere  this,  in  the 
heavenly  home,  of  a  host  of  those  who  listened,  and  of  him  who  spake,  at 
the  forest  meetings  of  other  days,  when  Pitman,  Bangs,  Durbin  and 
others  offered  the  word  of  life.  ,  Of  all  the  distinguished  good  men  who 
have  preached  at  this  great  meeting  at  the  sea,  for  these  many  years, 
none  will  shine  with  greater  lustre,  as  having  turned  many  to  righteous- 
ness there,  than  Rev.  Charles  Pitman,  D.D." 

"This  veteran  brother  adds,  in  a  P.  S. :  "  Rev.  Charles  Noble,  who  was 
a  member  of  the  '  New  England  Conference,'  for  about  fifty  years,  and 
died  at  Wilbraham,  Mass.,  in  1880,  at  about  seventy  years  of  age,  was 
converted  under  the  labors  of  Rev.  Charles  Pitman,  when  quite  young, 
in  Philadelphia."  This  brother,  doubtless,  is  a  part  of  the  fruit  of  the 
great  revival  at  St.  George's,  in  1837-38.  "  His  only  son  he  named 
Charles  Pitman  Noble,  but  he  preceded  his  now  sainted  father  long 
since  to  the  skies." 

"  Dr.  Pitman  being  asked  by  Rev.  Dr.  R.  W.  Allen  to  write  in  his  auto- 
graph album,  wrote  the  following  beautiful  sentiments,  which  are  worthy 
to  be  cherished  by  every  Christian  heart : 

"  God  in  nature  is  God  above  us,  God  in  Providence  is  God  beyond 
us,  God  in  law  is  God  against  us,  God  in  Christ  is  God  with  and  for  us." 

REV.    WILLIAM    ROBERTS,    D.D. 

The  Rev.  William  Roberts,  of  Colfax,  Washington  Territory, 
and  one  of  the  oldest  and  most  effective  men  of  the  "  Puget 
Sound  Conference,"  contributes  the  following  interesting  and 
valuable  historical  delineation  of  his  connection  and  life-service 


276  LIFE   OF   REV.    CHARLES   PITMAN,   D.D. 

with  the  work  of  Christian  missions  in  the  Northwest,  and  of 
Dr.  Pitman's  labor  in  securing  him  to  that  wonderfully  fruitful 
field  of  *  evangelical  labor,  and  also  of  his  early  association 
and  high  appreciation  of  Dr.  Pitman's  extraordinary  powers 
as  a  minister  and  public  teacher  and  officer  in  the  Church  of 
God. 

"  I  am  asked  to  prepare  an  article  for  the  biography  of  the  late  Dr. 
Charles  Pitman,  a  man  of  blessed  memory,  whose  influence  more  than 
that  of  any  other  man  has  helped  to  shape  my  own  life  and  ministry. 
His  visits  to  the  home  of  my  youth,  his  sermons  both  before  and  after 
conversion,  and  his  counsel  as  to  going  to  the  Northwest  coast,  together 
with  his  letters  during  the  early  years  of  toil  on  this  hard  field  of  labor, 
all  come  up  with  freshness  and  interest.  Just  at  that  most  important 
period  of  life  when  character  was  forming,  when  the  aim  of  life  was 
being  determined,  and  when  that  dark  conspiracy  called  in  Scripture 
"the  world,  the  flesh  and  the  devil"  was  laying  its  toils  to  ruin  and 
destroy,  then — -just  then — the  presence  of  this  eloquent,  earnest  minister 
helped  to  decide  for  Christ  and  His  Church.  That  decision  was  final, 
and  by  divine  grace  irreversible. 

"  How  wonderful  the  change  at  regeneration,  and  how  exhaustive  the 
terms  used  in  Scripture  to  express  it !  What  wonder  is  it  that  to  ex- 
press anything  higher  in  the  maturity  of  Christian  life,  these  same 
terms  must  be  repeated  o'er  and  o'er !  What  little  reason  to  build  up 
a  party  in  the  Church  and  establish  a  literature  and  a  nomenclature  by 
drawing  nice  distinctions  in  religious  experience,  putting  a  vernier  on 
the  scale,  unknown  to  Scripture  and  unused  by  the  Apostle  Paul !  Of 
course,  the  lapse  of  half  a  century  bedims  my  recollection  somewhat, 
and  the  width  of  a  continent  prevents  any  comparison  of  notes  with  the 
few  remaining  associates  of  those  earlier  years.  Charles  Pitman  was  a 
man  of  most  imposing  and  attractive  presence.  He  was  an  imperial 
speaker;  his  voice  clear  in  tone,  full  in  volume,  and  natural  in  its  mod- 
ulations. I  can  hear  it  ringing  to  this  very  hour.  As  I  call  to  mind 
his  discourses,  together  with  the  readings  of  Samuel  Aaron,  a  Baptist 
minister  of  marked  excellence  in  Burlington  at  that  time,  and  the  lec- 
tures of  my  old  tutor,  Samuel  Gummere,  is  it  any  wonder  that  I  carry 
with  me  through  life  an  inflexible  purpose  to  excel  in  vocalism  ?  The 
three  essential  points  in  all  good  speaking  are  truth,  voice  and  pathos, 
and  they  are  most  happily  developed  in  the  subject  of  this  paper. 

"  First, — Truth,  or  the  subject-matter  of  discourse.    A  man  to  preach 


REMINISCENCES.  277 

well  must  have  a  gospel,  he  must  bring  good  tidings.  There  are  some 
persons  yet  living  in  New  Jersey  who  heard  the  discourse  preached  by 
the  late  Dr.  Durbin  at  camp-meeting  near  Pemberton  early  in  the  thir- 
ties. It  was  just  at  the  time  when  the  poor,  starveling  notions  of  the 
Hicksite  Quakers  had  attracted  attention,  and  this  sermon  was  a  dem- 
onstration of  the  Godhead  of  Christ,  showing  that  Jesus,  the  sinner's 
friend,  was  God  over  all,  blessed  forever.  The  effect  was  overwhelming. 
Verily  there  is  hope  for  humanity  if  Christ  is  Head  over  all.  I  have 
heard  the  late  Starr  King,  of  San  Francisco  (Unitarian),  succeed  grandly 
in  a  lecture  on  the  Union  in  war  times,  and  fail  sadly  in  a  sermon  for 
want  of  a  gospel. 

"  I  think  Dr.  Pitman  in  his  average  discourses  was  the  most  thoroughly 
evangelical  preacher  I  ever  heard.  Salvation  as  to  its  necessity,  its  na- 
ture, its  freeness,  its  fulness,  its  wondrous  adaptation  to  human  want  and 
human  necessity  was  his  constant  theme.  He  had  a  perfect  horror  of  Cal- 
vinism, and  he  persistently  opposed  it.  I  think  one  of  the  reasons  why 
the  pulpits  of  all  the  churches  to-day  are  so  largely  Arminian  is  because 
the  giants  of  Pitman's  time,  and  "  there  were  giants  in  those  days,"  bore 
such  a  clear  testimony  against  it,  so  that  what  with  its  natural  repulsive- 
ness  to  enlightened  human  reason,  and  these  wonderful  words  of  life,  giv- 
ing a  fair  chance  to  every  man  to  be  saved,  the  miscalled  "  doctrines  of 
grace"  are  relegated  to  the  " confessions  of  faith "  and  the  theological 
seminary.  I'd  rather  speak  of  this  just  now  because  no  notice  of  Dr. 
Pitman  would  be  true  to  his  ministry  which  omitted  his  telling  blows 
against  that  most  disheartening  and  exaggerated  of  all  ideas  concerning 
the  Divine  Sovereignty. 

"  An  incident  he  related  once  of  a  man  in  despair  at  the  idea  of  being 
a  reprobate,  committed  suicide,  but  lived  long  enough  to  give  his  reasons 
for  committing  the  rash  act,  made  a  terrible  impression  as  to  the  practi- 
cal working  of  hyper-Calvinism.  Quite,  possibly,  the  very  fact  that 
the  pulpit  to-day  has  been  Arminianized  so  fully  may  explain  why  there 
is  less  difference  in  the  proportionate  success  of  the  Methodist  pulpit,  com- 
pared with  the  pulpits  of  the  Calvinistic  churches.  The  change  is  not 
with  us,  but  with  them ;  hence,  a  Southern  writer  said,  recently,  "  there 
is  more  Methodism  outside  the  Methodist  church  than  there  is  in  it." 
Not,  by  any  manner  of  means,  that  we  have  less,  but  other  churches 
have  more. 

"  If,  therefore,  the  grand  men  of  other  churches  preach  the  same  glor- 
ious truths  that  Pitman  and  his  contemporaries  preached,  why  should 
they  not  succeed  ? 

The  second  essential  element  is  Voice,  or  the  vehicle  of  truth.    How 


278  LIFE   OF   REV.    CHARLES   PITMAN,   D.D. 

far  Dr.  Pitman  was  ever  the  subject  of  instruction  in  vocalisra,  I  have 
no  means  of  knowing ;  but  it  is  certain  his  voice  was  a  marvel  of  excel- 
lence. Full  in  volume,  clear  in  tone,  distinct  in  articulation,  wide- 
reaching  in  compass,  well-sustained  in  endurance,  it  would  arrest  atten- 
tion and  enchain  the  hearer.  My  impression  is  the  gift  of  speech  was 
with  him  more  nearly  a  natural  endowment .  than  with  any  man  I  ever 
knew. 

"If  speaking  be,  as  I  am  sure  it  is,  a  matter  of  art,  just  as  music  and 
painting  are  matters  of  art,  still  it  is  much  easier  for  some  to  learn  than 
for  others.  Aaron,  Apollos,  Whitefield  and  Summerfield  are  illustrious 
examples  in  vocalism,  and  Mozart  and  Raphael  in  music  and  painting. 

"  The  third  item  is  pathos,  sympathy,  or  that  mysterious  something 
which  places  speaker  and  hearer  en  rapport  each  with  the  other.  At 
this  point  the  subject  of  this  sketch  was  pre-eminent;  he  was  the  very 
soul  of  sympathy  and  feeling.  He  had  studied  most  thoroughly  the 
wants  and  necessities  of  the  human  soul,  and  the  divine  plan  of  saving 
men  met  his  idea  of  human  want  most  completely,  and  he  would  thrill 
his  hearers  with  the  old,  old  story,  and  many  were  turned  to  righteous- 
ness by  his  touching  appeals.  I  make  these  remarks  along  the  line  of 
good  speaking  because  preaching  was  the  especial  business  of  this  most 
useful  man.  I  have  purposely  omitted  to  use  the  word  elocution,  for 
the  reason  so  many  choose  to  mistake  its  meaning.  When  God  called 
Moses  to  go  to  Pharaoh,  he  repeatedly  objected,  alleging,  among  other 
things,  '  that  he  was  not  eloquent,  but  a  man  slow  of  speech  and  of  a 
slow  tongue,'  whereupon  God  said,  'Is  not  Aaron  the  Levite  thy 
brother?  I  know  that  he  can  speak  well,  and  he  shall  be  thy  spokesman 
unto  the  people.'  Now  what  I  conceive  Jehovah  meant  by  '  speaking 
well '  is  just  what  I  mean  by  elocution,  if  I  use  the  term  at  all,  a  gift 
that  Dr.  Pitman  possessed,  as  did  Aaron,  without  any  of  the  tetter's 
weakness,  as  exhibited  in  the  matter  of  the  golden  calf  and  in  the  con- 
spiracy with  Miriam  against  their  noble  and  patriotic  brother. 

"Quite  early  in  my  religious  life  an  incident  occurred  which  called  my 
attention  to  the  subject  of  missions.  A  juvenile  missionary  society  was 
formed  in  my  native  place,  and,  as  I  had  been  known  to  pray  in  public, 
my  name  was  taken  at  Dr.  Pitman's  instance,  from  the  adult  society,  and 
placed  at  the  head  of  the  juveniles,  in  order  that  its  business  meeting 
might  be  opened  with  prayer. 

"  I  little  thought  then  that  the  larger  part  of  my  life  would  be  spent  in 
missionary  work.  Eighteen  years  later,  in  the  summer  of  1846,  it  was 
deemed  necessary  to  send  some  younger  man  to  relieve  the  Rev.  George 
Gary,  then  Superintendent  of  the  Oregon  Mission,  whose  age  seemed  to 


REMINISCENCES.  279 

require  relief.  At  the  instance  of  my  friend,  Dr.  Pitman,  I  was  induced 
to  prepare  for  the  long  voyage  around  Cape  Horn  to  assume  the  charge 
of  Methodism  on  the  northwest  coast.  On  Nov.  27th,  1846,  in  company 
with  Rev.  J.  H.  Wilbur  and  family,  we  sailed  from  New  York,  reaching 
San  Francisco  April  24th,  1847,  from  whence,  after  nearly  two  months 
of  careful  exploration,  we  sailed  for  the  Columbia  River,  landing  at  the 
present  site  of  Portland,  in  the  last  days  of  June.  Since  that  time  great 
changes  have  been  effected,  growing  out  of  the  discovery  of  gold ;  ex- 
tensive immigration  from  the  Atlantic  and  Western  States,  opening  up 
the  transit  across  the  Isthmus  of  Panama,  and  the  building  of  four  vast 
trans-continental  railroads,  shortening  the  time  of  transit  from  six 
months  to  as  many  days.  We  have  founded  a  new  empire,  and  have 
baptized  it  with  tears  and  labor,  with  prayers  and  blood.  We  have 
seeded  it  down  with  Bibles  and  schools  and  religious  literature  and 
churches  and  colleges,  and  we  have  harvested  hundreds  of  precious 
souls.  A  somewhat  careful  estimate,  made  ten  years  ago,  showed  over 
16,000  persons  gathered  into  the  church — not  from  other  churches,  but 
from  the  outside  world. 

"  Of  course,  the  percentage  of  loss  in  this  frontier  work  has  been  fear- 
ful, in  spite  of  all  our  efforts  to  build  up  and  establish  our  people  iu 
their  most  holy  faith.  A  net-work  of  circuits  and  stations  and  districts 
has  been  formed,  including  six  or  more  Annual  Conferences  and,  ex- 
tending from  the  Straits  of  Fuca  to  the  Gulf  of  California,  and  from  the 
weather-beaten  beach  of  the  Pacific  to  the  mountains  of  Idaho  and 
Utah. 

"  All  these  weary  years  we  have  been  exiled  from  the  associates  of  our 
earlier  ministry,  but  the  same  nearness  to  the  mercy-seat — the  same  ful- 
ness of  grace,  the  same  witness  of  the  Spirit,  the  same  Divine  Comforter, 
of  which  we  heard  in  boyhood,  from  the  lips  of  this  peerless  minister, 
have  been  our  solace  in  all  the  toils  of  the  wilderness  and  hardships  of 
pioneer  life.  We  have  been  in  perils  by  land  and  by  sea ;  we  have  faced 
death  many  times.  In  looking  after  our  legitimate  work,  we  have 
had  neither  the  time  nor  the  ability  to  seek  wealth  or  personal  promotion. 

"  We  have  sacrificed  home  and  family  to  build  up  Christ's  Kingdom,  and 
now,  after  more  than  half  a  century  of  public  life,  extending  from  1833 
to  1887,  stand  facing  the  grave  in  a  distant  land,  proving  the  truth  of 
one  of  Pitman's  sweetest  discourses  on  '  The  work  of  righteousness 
is  peace,  and  the  effect  of  righteousness  quietness  and  assurance  for- 
ever.' 

"  My  recollection  of  the  ministry  of  the  subject  of  this  memoir  leads  me 
to  emphasize  the  following  points : 


280  LIFE   OF   REV.   CHARLES  PITMAN,   D.D. 

"  1st.  In  every  discourse  introduce  the  marrow  and  fatness  of  gospel 
truth.  Let  the  oil  of  the  sanctuary  be  well  beaten.  Man's  deep  want — 
Christ's  all-sufficiency.  The  abundance  and  freeness  and  joyousness  of 
God's  love  in  Christ — this  will  attract,  this  will  save. 

"  2d.  Make  the  most  of  your  own  voice,  but  imitate  the  voice  of  no  other 
man.  No,  not  that  of  Pitman,  or  even  of  Aaron  himself.  Cultivate  your 
own.  Gain  a  knowledge  of  its  peculiarities,  strengthen  its  weakness, 
smooth  its  roughness,  extend  its  volume,  correct  its  monotony,  control 
its  rhythm,  let  its  individuality  stand  out,  but  its  essential  timbre  must 
not  be  adulterated  by  imitating  any  one,  not  even  a  seraph.  The  hu- 
man voice  is  never  at  its  best  when  simulation  in  any  form  is  present. 
An  imitator  may  make  an  ape,  but  never  an  Apollos. 

"  3d.  The  prevalent  opinion  is  that  higher  education  is  essential  to  the 
ministry  of  the  present  time,  and  I  am  aware  that  Dr.  Pitman  spent  quite 
a  portion  of  his  valuable  life  in  helping  to  provide  it  for  others ;  and  yet 
right  here,  in  his  own  person,  we  have  an  instance  of  success  in  its  very 
best  sense  with  but  a  limited  amount  of  classical  scholarship.  A  thorough 
mastery  by  one's  self  of  our  own  mother-tongue,  if  nothing  more  is  within 
reach,  with  God's  blessing  on  a  consecrated  heart  and  life,  will  win  the 
prize." 

REV.    C.    H.   WHITECAR,   D.D. 

The  Eev.  Charles  H.  Whitecar,  D.D.,  of  the  New  Jersey 
Conference,  contributes  the  following  panegyric  to  the  memory, 
life-service  and  distinguished  attainments  and  exalted  virtues  of 
Rev.  Charles  Pitman,  D.D. : 

"  Whatever  may  be  said  of  classic  characters,  or  the  heroes  of  ro- 
mance, the  distinguished  person  of  whom  we  write  is  no  '  myth.'  He 
did  not  belong  to  the  age  of  the  '  gods  ; '  nor  to  that  of  '  calendered 
saints,'  but  is  an  actuality  of  our  own  period,  and  well  known  to  many 
now  living.  The  impressions  he  made  upon  the  masses  by  his  public  min- 
istrations, both  as  to  his  persons  and  his  powers  have  survived  the 
years  of  his  activity,  and  are  still  inwrought  in  affectionate  memories, 
and  undulate  the  life  of  saintship  in  many  localities. 

''Some  men,  called  to  public  ministrations,  seem  to  have  been  run  in  a 
perfect  mould,  having  centered  in  themselves  excellencies  in  a  climax 
to  take  from,  or  to  add  to,  would  be  to  mar  the  harmony  of  well-adjusted 
greatness  ;  as  in  nature,  why  narrow  or  broaden  a  mountain,  or  contract 
or  deepen  the  sea?  Such  characters  should  stand  forth,  as  the  divine 
hand  made  them,  on  the  plane  of  the  years,  the  observed  of  the  passing 


REMINISCENCES.  281 

millions,  serving  as  an  incentive  to  lofty  aspirations  within  their  own 
spheres. 

"  To  speak  and  write  of  such  celebrities  is  not  man-worship ;  as  it  is 
not  for  himself  alone,  but  for  his  endowments  that  we  exalt  each  ;  as 
all  of  this  class  of  social  and  public  life  to  provoke  their  imitations  by 
others.  While  some  men  are  thus  specially  marked  in  their  parts,  so 
are  they  in  their  world-mission,  as  born  to  lead  and  fitted  for  conquest ; 
or  as  gifted  in  utterance,  and  impassioned  in  address,  as  a  divine  local 
force. 

"  As  in  the  introduction  of  any  new  system  of  belief,  the  burden  of 
proof  is  on  the  part  of  those  who  present  it,  the  apostles  who  inaugu- 
rated the  Christian  system  possessed  extraordinary  powers,  and  creden- 
tiated  their  mission  by  miracles,  and  a  convincing  address,  which  was  a 
necessity  of  its  period  ;  and  which  accounts  for  their  special  subsidence 
in  after  centuries.  So  also  in  the  introduction  of  Methodism  as  a  prov- 
idential evangelism,  and  a  new  aspect  of  gospel  work.  Special  charac- 
teristics marked  its  leading  ministers,  as  to  their  qualifications,  zeal  and 
success,  the  design  being  to  affirm  the  providential  character  and  mission 
of  Methodism,  as  an  evangelical  reform,  to  contribute  to  deliver  organ- 
ized churches  from  a  cold  formalism  and  ritualistic  subserviency,  as  also 
to  reach  and  save  the  neglected  masses.  This,  to  our  minds,  is  an  ex- 
ponent of  the  personalities  and  times  now  so  conspicuous  in  the  frontage 
of  our  branch  of  the  general  Church.  No  wonder  then  that  there  were 
men  of  gifts,  and  will,  and  work,  who  advanced  to  charge  impetuously  ; 
and  who  ministered  to  enlighten,  to  convince  and  to  convert ;  and  no 
wonder  that  fallows  were  broken  up,  seeds  sown  broadcast,  and  that  rich 
and  full  harvests  sprang  up  and  ripened  in  golden  splendor  on  the  moun- 
tain slopes  and  summits,  in  the  vales,  and  by  the  rivers  and  sea.  Of 
the  number  of  these  apostolic  celebrities  was  Rev.  Charles  Pitman,  t).D., 
a  son  of  New  Jersey,  and  a  child  of  Methodism. 

"My  first  recollection  connecting  him  with  his  ministerial  work, 
relates  to  his  preaching  at  the  historic  Blackwoodtown  Camp-meeting, 
in  1825.  I  had  been  taken,  then  but  a  boy,  to  that  meeting  by  my  now 
sainted  mother.  After  having  knelt  as  a  'seeker,'  in  one  of  the  tent 
prayer-meetings,  I  went  to  attend  a  preaching  service  at  the  stand,  Mr. 
Pitman  officiating,  and  under  his  sermon  I  received  the  inspiration  of  a 
spiritual  life,  which,  amid  all  the  variations  and  vacillations  of  after 
years,  never  has  been  lost  in  its  influence,  and  now  gives  cheer  and  hope 
in  life's  decline. 

"I  have  been  with  Dr.  Pitman  in  the 'old  love-feast' near  to  the 
same  period,  held  in  the  little  frame  '  Nazareth  Church,'  on  Hirst 


282  LIFE   OF   REV.    CHARLES   PITMAN,    D.D. 

Street,  Philadelphia,  and  seem  to  see  him  move  as  I  saw  him  then 
happy  in  his  work,  happy  in  glowing  song,  and  happy  in  the  fellowship 
of  his  people,  in  their  unpretentious  social  position,  and  in  their  humble 
surroundings,  it  being  one  of  the  four  churches  in  St.  George's  charge, 
Philadelphia. 

"  I  have  been  with  him  at  camp-meetings  and  dedications  ;  in  the  vis- 
itations of  the  sick  and  in  the  social  circle ;  I  have  sat  with  him  at  the 
table  and  had  his  company  in  many  miles  of  ride  in  a  private  convey- 
ance, and  heard  him  preach  in  various  churches  and  deliver  missionary, 
addresses  in  several  instances  and  in  different  localities,  all  of  which 
have  contributed  to  give  to  him  a  special  distinction  in  my  personal 
judgment,  and  this,  sustained  and  heightened  by  the  traditional  and 
historic  account  of  his  most  wonderful  accomplishments  on  some  extra- 
ordinary occasions,  make  him  to  be  the  man  of  New  Jersey  Methodism, 
whose  intelligent  grasp,  unctious  nature  and  address,  and  plastic  hand 
shaped  its  proportions  and  progress,  to  a  present  cheering  attitude,  and 
to  a  future  of  more  enlarged  triumph. 

"Superadded  to  his  other  eminent  gifts  was  that  of  melodious  song. 
Among  his  selections  were  :  '  The  Christian  Pilgrim,'  '  Whither  Goest 
Thou,  Pilgrim  Stranger, '  with  the  chorus,  '  I'm  Bound  for  the  King- 
dom ; '  also,  "  The  Royal  Proclamation,'  with  the  chorus,  '  Jesus 
Reigns/  etc.  As  an  illustration  of  his  love  for  song,  I  adduce  this  inci- 
dent :  When  under  his  superintendency,  and  at  his  suggestion,  Rev. 
William  Roberts,  of  our  Conference,  was  appointed  superintendent  of 
the  Oregon  Mission,  by  the  managers  of  our  Church  Missionary  Society, 
of  which  Dr.  Pitman  was  then  secretary,  there  was  held,  in  the  city  of 
Newark,  three  farewell  missionary  meetings,  one  of  which  was  held  in 
the  Franklin  Street  Church,  of  which  I  was  at  that  time  pastor,  it 
being  the  first  of  the  series.  What  gave  special  interest  to  these  meet- 
ings was  that  Rev.  Mr.  Roberts  had  popularly  served  two  of  these 
churches,  which  we  had  then  in  that  city.  At  the  first  meeting,  feeling 
at  home  in  my  own  church,  though  many  strangers  were  present,  in  a 
pause  that  ensued  I  asked  Bro.  Pitman  if  I  might  sing ;  he  consenting, 
I  sang  two  verses  of  the  '  Pearl,'  it  being  entirely  new  to  the  audience ; 
the  meeting  proceeded,  when,  at  another  favorable  moment,  Bro.  Pitman 
turned  and  said :  '  If  you  have  anything  as  good  as  that  which  you  have 
sung  you  can  sing  again.'  I  replied  that  there  were  two  more  verses. 
'  Give  them  to  us,'  said  he,  and  I  sang  them.  I  attended  each  of  the 
other  meetings,  and  he  would  have  his  speeches  prefaced  by  the  same 
hymn. 

"  The  same  was  true,  subsequently,  at  the  Conference  missionary  meet- 


REMINISCENCES.  283 

ing,  in  the  Walnut  Street  Church,  Salem.  ''All  music,'  said  Charles 
Wesley,  '  is  divine,'  so  that  the  divinity  that  stirred  him  in  unctious 
utterances  moved  his  sensitive  and  flowing  nature  in  sacred  song. 

"Dr.  Pitman  was  not  insensible  of,  or  indifferent  to,  the  decline  of  life 
and  of  labor.  Following  him  in  the  charge  of  Green  Street,  Trenton, 
when  he  was  appointed  the  Presiding  Elder  of  the  District,  and  soon 
after  Secretary  of  the  Missionary  Society,  he  said  to  me  :  '  You  must  in- 
crease, but  I  must  decrease ;  so  long  as  we  are  going  up,  it  is  well  enough, 
but  when  we  turn  to  come  down,  that  is  the  time."  It  was  his  last  ap- 
pointment. I  saw  him  in  his  decline,  the  frame-work  of  the  noble  and  the 
good  had  weakened,  his  earth-life  was  in  eclipse,  the  index  finger  of  his 
destiny  pointed  the  other  way,  he  was  being  disrobed  of  his  battle-armor 
—of  bow  and  spear  and  sword,  of  helmet  and  breast-plate — to  put  on, 
ere  long,  the  victor's  robe  and  crown,  and  triumphantly  to  bear  his 
palm.  He  was  to  be  renewed  and  enthroned,  while  his  great  work  sur- 
vives him,  and  his  memory  is  lovingly  cherished  and  his  name  appro- 
priately monumented  in  churches,  called  after  it,  and  eminently  so,  in  the 
charm  and  sacredness  of  Pitman  Grove  Camp-meeting.  But  one  thing 
has  been  at  fault,  as  to  his  deservedness.  No  commensurate  history  of  Dr. 
Pitman,  of  his  times  and  compeers,  has  ever  been  written  in  the  years  of 
the  past,  and  possibly  never  would  have  been,  had  not  the  inspiration 
fallen  upon  one  who  highly  appreciates  his  person  and  his  work,  and 
who  felt  called  upon  to  save  from  oblivion  many  of  the  particulars,  inci- 
dents and  achievements  of  his  illustrious  career. 

"  I  commend  the  patience,  research,  labor  and  devotion  which  the 
author  of  this  volume  has  put  forth  to  secure  to  our  church  and  the 
public  this  valuable  biographical  work.  He  has  availed  himself  of  all 
the  facilities  within  his  reach,  and  has  had  varied  assistance  in  contribu- 
tions, both  written  and  oral,  and  having  heard  the  manuscript  read,  and 
its  chapters,  I  appreciate  both  the  merits  of  the  history  itself  and  the 
able,  chaste,  and  effective  style  of  its  preparation,  and  believe  that  its 
publication  and  circulation  will  be  acceptable  and  useful  to  our  Meth- 
odism." 

REV.    HEBRON   VINCENT. 

The  Rev.  Hebron  Vincent,  of  the  New  England  Conference, 
furnishes  the  following  highly  important  and  interesting  histor- 
ical article,  which,  in  its  descriptive  character,  perspicuity  of 
thought,  distinctness  of  utterance  and  narration  of  impressive 
incident,  both  illustrates  and  commends  the  valuable  labors  and 


284  LIFE  OF  REV.   CHARLES  PITMAN,   D.D. 

life-service  which  Rev.  Charles  Pitman,  D.D.,  rendered  to  the 
church  of  his  choice,  and  to  Methodism  throughout  New  Eng- 
land and  elsewhere  : 

"  As  I  have  been  earnestly  solicited  by  the  biographer,  to  furnish  an 
article  for  the  chapter  in  this  book  on  '  Reminiscences  of  Dr.  Pitman,'  it 
may  be  proper  for  me  to  say  that  I  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  well- 
known  Martha's  Vineyard  Camp-Meeting,  and  am  now  the  only  survi- 
vor of  the  original  projectors  and  organizers  of  the  meeting,  the  annual 
assembling  of  which  commenced  in  the  summer  of  1835.  It  was  regu- 
larly held  ten  successive  years,  and  then  discontinued.  But  the  year 
following  its  discontinuance  here,  viz.,  in  1845,  a  meeting  was  held  for 
the  same  section  of  country  at  Westport,  a  town  some  twelve  or  fourteen 
miles  from  the  city  of  New  Bedford.  But  the  place  being  unsatisfactory 
we  returned  in  1846  to  the  old  site  on  Martha's  Vineyard,  where  annual 
religious  gatherings  have  been  maintained,  it  being  now  over  half  a 
century  since  the  beginning  here  in  this  place.  Being  the  secretary  of 
that  meeting  at  Westport,  perhaps  I  was  more  conversant  with  things 
which  transpired  there  than  I  should  otherwise  have  been.  It  was  there 
that  Dr.  Pitman  first  visited  our  meeting,  and  it  was  there  that  my  ac- 
quaintance with  him  became  more  permanent.  By  his  preaching  and 
other  services  he  added  greatly  to  the  interest,  and  the  good  results  of 
the  occasion.  Rev.  Frederick  Upham,  then  Presiding  Elder,  now  the  Nes- 
tor of  the  N.  E.  Southern  Conference,  was  the  president  of  the  meeting. 
The  opening  service  was  on  Tuesday,  and  on  Friday  afternoon,  following 
the  venerable  Daniel  Webb,  of  the  morning  service,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Charles 
Pitman,  then  missionary  secretary  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  was  the 
preacher.  Speaking  of  the  preaching  at  this  camp-meeting,  the  pub- 
lished account  says,  '  Superior  talents  were  displayed  in  the  sermons  of 
the  venerable  Fathers  Webb  and  Bonney  and  in  those  of  Dr.  Pitman. 
We  felt  that  it  was  a  privilege  to  be  highly  prized,  to  sit  and  learn  at  the 
feet  of  those  Gamaliels  of  the  Christian  Church.'  Again,  '  On  Sabbath 
afternoon,  while  the  vast  multitude  were  held  in  almost  speechless  ad- 
miration by  Dr.  Pitman,  for  the  space  of  about  an  hour  and  a-half, 
while  discoursing  on  the  parable  of  the  talents,  it  seemed  as  though  the 
Holy  Spirit  pervaded  every  mind,  and  penetrated  every  heart.' 

"  In  my  first  published  history  of  the  camp-meetings  here,  occurs  this 
passage  in  connection  with  the  account  of  this  meeting  at  Westport : 

"'AN  INCIDENT. 
" '  At  the  communion  season  on  Monday,  after  the  exercises  of  that 


REMINISCENCES.  285 

sacred  occasion  were  through,  Dr.  Pitman  craved  the  privilege  of  ad- 
dressing the  assembly  for  a  few  minutes.  Adverting  to  the  fact  that  he 
represented  the  great  missionary  interest  of  our  church,  he  remarked 
that,  although  the  privilege  of  taking  up  a  missionary  collection  during 
the  meeting  had  been  kindly  and  repeatedly  tendered  to  him  by  the 
Presiding  Elder,  yet,  owing  to  the  fact  of  the  heavy  bill  of  expenses 
imposed  on  the  friends  in  preparing  the  ground  (most,  if  not  all,  of 
which  bill,  however,  was  unavoidable  under  the  circumstances),  he  could 
not  have  the  heart  to  ask  for  a  collection.  But,  if  any  one  had  anything 
he  or  she  wished  to  give,  it  would  be  received.  Whatever  was  done  in 
this  way  he  desired  should  be  considered  as  a  special  offering,  and  not 
to  operate  as  a  drawback  upon  their  regular  missionary  operations.  He 
could  not  consent,  he  said,  that  basket,  plate  or  hat  should  be  passed 
round,  but  he  chose  that  whatever  was  given  in  this  way  should  be  put 
into  his  hat,  standing  on  the  table.  He  proposed  and  promised,  that 
whatever  was  given  on  the  occasion  should  be  appropriated  to  pay  the 
passages  of  the  several  missionaries  about  to  embark  for  Africa,  a  sum 
sufficient  for  that  object  being  wanted.  The  proposition  thus  happily 
made,  could  not  certainly  have  succeeded  better  had  it  been  specially  de- 
signed to  answer  the  objects  of  a  collection.  The  Doctor's  hat  was 
placed  upon  the  communion-table,  and  the  scene  which  ensued  was  one 
of  most  thrilling  interest.  There  was  a  gust  of  Christian  sympathy  and 
benevolence,  followed  and  accompanied  by  a  rush  of  brethren,  sisters 
and  friends  (apparently  vicing  with  each  other  in  works  of  Christian 
valor)  to  cast  their  offering  into  the  treasury  of  the  Lord.  Among  other 
things,  twenty  dollars  were  raised  to  constitute  Sister  Beedle,  who  was  a 
mother  in  Israel,  a  convert  under  the  labors  of  'Bramwell,'  a  life-mem- 
ber of  the  present  missionary  society.  The  finishing  up  of  the  proposi- 
tion was  the  presentation,  by  a  New  Bedford  sister,  of  a  gold  pencil, 
valued  at  seven  dollars.  The  whole  sum  obtained  was  about  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  dollars.  I  must  add  as  follows :  "  On  our  way  to  New 
Bedford,  on  board  the  fine  steamer  '  Massachusetts,'  Captain  Lot  Phin- 
ney,  master,  Dr.  Pitman,  by  the  request  of  the  company,  preached  a 
most  able  and  soul-stirring  sermon.  Isa.  xliv.  chap.,  3-5  vers.  (See 
sketch  at  close  of  this  volume).  It  was  none  the  less  interesting  for 
being  unpremeditated.  Tears  moistened  the  eyes  of  many  present,  not 
excepting  those  of  our  excellent  and  noble-hearted  commander."  ' 

"In  the  following  autumn,  viz.,  November  13,  1845,  Dr.  Pitman  came 
and  preached  the  dedication  sermon  of  a  new  church  at  Vineyard 
Haven,  which  was  an  occasion  of  wonderful  interest  and  power. 

"Although  not  the  secretary  of  the  meeting  at  the  Vineyard  the  fol- 


286  LIFE   OF   REV.    CHARLES   PITMAN,    D.D. 

lowing  year,  1846,  I  find  I  said  in  my  history  that  Dr.  Pitman  was  again 
with  us,  and  although  during  a  part  of  the  time  of  the  meeting  he  was 
in  a  state  of  comparative  physical  prostration,  yet  he  so  far  recovered 
as  to  be  able  to  lift  up  his  voice  and  proclaim  to  us  '  the  acceptable  year 
of  the  Lord.'  I  find  also  from  the  report  of  the  meeting  by  the  secre- 
tary, the  excellent  Dr.  David  Patten,  the  following :  '  The  prayer-meet- 
ing at  the  stand  on  Wednesday  evening,  when  heaven  and  earth  seemed 
to  meet  together,  and  angels  and  men  to  mingle  their  sympathies  and 
rejoicings,  the  love-feast,  in  which  the  dumb  spake  and  the  people  won- 
dered, the  missionary  meeting,  in  which,  after  an  eloquent  and  earnest 
address  by  Dr.  Pitman,  our  missionary  secretary,  the  multitude  rushed 
with  eager  haste  to  throw  their  offerings  into  the  treasury  of  the  Lord, 
an  account  of  these  and  other  interesting  and  affecting  incidents  of  the 
meeting  may  be  given  you  by  another  hand.'  But  I  am  not  now  aware 
that  any  other  hand  did  write  such  account. 

"  The  Doctor  came  from  this  meeting  to  Edgartown.  On  his  way  he 
was  taken  very  ill.  Arriving,  he  was  kindly  taken  care  of  at  the  house 
of  our  late,  excellent  brother  in  the  church,  Josiah  Gorham,  and  was 
attended  by  Dr.  John  Pierce,  also  a  member  of  the  church  here.  Some 
time  after  his  recovery,  Dr.  Pierce  (now  deceased)  and  his  estimable 
wife,  having  occasion  to  go  to  New  York,  were  treated  to  a  very  cordial 
reception  by  Dr.  Pitman  and  his  wife,  thus  showing  a  kind  remembrance 
of  his  medical  benefactor.  The  incident  is  now  related  to  me  by  Mrs. 
Pierce,  aa  a  pleasant  memory. 

"  He  subsequently  visited  this  town  and  was  cordially  received  by  our 
people,  in  his  official  capacity  as  Missionary  Secretary..  And  from  our 
first  meeting  at  Martha's  Vineyard,  such  had  been  our  cherished  ac- 
quaintance that  he  proposed  and  actually  commenced  with  me,  an  inter- 
change of  views  by  letter,  upon  religious  themes,  which  proposition  I 
could  but  accept,  although  with  due  diffidence,  and  well  knowing  that 
in  the  results  I  should  be  the  more  favored  one.  Unfortunately  for  me, 
at  least,  circumstances  beyond  our  control,  soon  put  an  end  to  our  pleas- 
ant anticipations.  We  here  introduce  the  aforementioned  letter. 

"NEW  YORK,  October  19,  1846. 
"  DEAR  BROTHER : 

"  I  think  at  our  last  interview  I  gave  you  a  partial  promise  that  I 
would  at  my  convenience  communicate  with  you  by  letter,  not  without 
an  understanding,  however,  that  the  favor  should  be  reciprocated.  I 
mention  this  understanding  between  us,  because  I  have  found  in  many 
instances  that  my  Edgartown  friends  are  not  the  most  prompt  in  re- 


REMINISCENCES.  287 

turning  favors  of  this  kind.  I  shall  certainly  expect  great  promptitude 
on  your  part. 

"  In  opening  this  correspondence,  it  has  struck  me  that  it  should  be 
conducted  in  such  a  manner  as  to  render  us  useful  to  each  other.  The 
mere  exchange  of  friendly  salutations,  and  professions  of  esteem,  which 
I  have  reason  to  believe  will  always  be  mutually  pleasant  and  agreeable, 
are,  in  themselves,  hardly  sufficient  to  give  a  correspondence  all  the 
advantages  it  might  and  should  possess.  It  has  occurred  to  me  that  to 
exchange  thoughts  occasionally  upon  some  topics  in  Christian  Theology 
might  be  useful  to  us  both.  And  as  Unitarianism  and  Universalism  are 
combining  their  efforts  to  weaken  the  Divine  Government  by  striking 
out  of  the  Christian  creed  the  Doctrine  of  Eternal  punishment,  I  propose 
an  examination  of  some  of  their  arguments.  And  first.  How  shall  we 
obviate  the  common,  and  in  their  estimation,  strong  objection,  'That  to 
assert  an  Infinite  and  Eternal  punishment  for  Finite  and  Temporal  sins, 
contradicts  our  fundamental  ideas  of  the  Divine  Kectitude,  Benevolence 
and  Love  ? ' 

"  In  answer  to  this  objection,  I  have  lately  seen  an  argument  of  which 
the  following  is  the  substance  :  Let  all  such  objectors  be  reminded  that 
as  long  as  the  creature  sins,  so  long  will  it  be  just  for  the  Creator  to  punish 
him.  Now  all  the  analogies  of  our  present  experience,  combined  with 
the  express  declarations  of  the  Divine  Scriptures,  reveal  to  us  that  in  a 
moral  sense,  our  characters  in  time  are  the  productive  roots  of  our  des- 
tinies in  eternity  ;  consequently,  our  present  life  in  the  flesh  is  the  preg- 
nant seed  of  a  corresponding  consciousness  which  will  continue  to  ex- 
pand for  ever  more.  Hence  he  who  dies  in  sin  unpardoned  and  unre- 
pented,  will  continue  to  sin  without  pardon  and  without  repentance,  as 
long  as  his  nature  shall  endure.  The  covenant  of  Redemption  does  not 
act  upon  the  unbelieving  in  the  world  of  spirits,  except  in  the  negative 
way  of  justifying  their  condemnation.  'As  the  tree  falls,  so  it  lies.'  He 
that  is  unjust  let  him  be  unjust  still,  and  he  that  is  filthy  let  him  be  filthy 
still  (Rev.  22 :  11).  From  hence,  it  appears,  an  unrepenting  sinner  in  time, 
will  continue  an  unrepenting  sinner  in  eternity.  Beyond  the  grave,  the 
'  blood  of  sprinkling '  is  not  applied  to  the  conscience  for  an  atonement; 
and  the  Spirit  of  Grace  is  no  more  imparted  for  renewal  and  sanctifica- 
tion ;  and  yet,  without  the  cleansing  blood,  and  without  the  imparted 
Spirit  of  Christ,  the  sinner  will  nev.er  cease  to  be  a  sinner !  But  if  the 
sin  continue,  so  will  the  punishment;  nor  can  the  purest  idea  of  moral 
justice  which  we  can  form  dispute  this  assertion.  '  How,  then,  shall  we 
escape  a  just  condemnation  hereafter,  if  we  neglect  so  great  salvation' 
now  ?  By  a  process  as  inevitable  as  God  is  immutable  the  sin  of  the 


288  LIFE   OF   REV.    CHARLES   PITMAN,    D.D. 

unregen crated  creature  will  continue  to  expand  itself,  and  the  curse  of 
the  unreconciled  Creator  to  realize  itself,  until  the  one  ceases  to  be  sin- 
ful, or  the  other  to  be  holy.  And  thus  we  venture  to  think,  the  reason- 
ableness as  well  as  the  certainty  of  eternal  punishment  may  be  demon- 
strated. Of  course  there  is  a  judicial  infliction  on  the  part  of  God;  but 
still,  we  must  ever  bear  in  mind,  that  no  such  thing  as  Sovereign  Justice 
exists  ;  Grace  is  altogether  a  Sovereign  expression  of  the  Divine  will  ; 
but  Justice  is  the  essential  and  immutable  attribute.  Hence  no  man  will 
be  in  the  locality  of  hell,  in  whom  the  dispositions  of  Hell  do  not  pre- 
viously exist  and  reign.  In  other  words,  the  Hell  of  his  outward  destiny 
will  be  essentially  derived  from  the  Hell  of  his  inward  character.  Where- 
fore, he  who  now  ventures  to  reject  the  '  Great  Salvation  '  which  God 
offers,  and  by  consequence  inherits  the  great  damnation  of  which  sin 
naturally,  as  well  as  judicially,  must  partake,  will  embody  the  fearful 
truths  which  our  great  priest  of  epic  song  ascribes  to  the  evil  one : 

'  Me  miserable !  which  way  shall  I  fly, 
Infinite  wrath  and  Infinite  despair, 
Which  way  I  fly  is  Hell ;  Myself  am  Hell : 
And  in  the  lowest  deep,  a  lower\deep, 
Still  threatening  to  devour  me,  opens  wide  ; 
To  which  the  Hell  I  suffer  seems  a  Heaven.' 

"  Will  you  please  give  me  your  views  on  this  awful  subject,  and  if  you 
see  any  flaws  in  the  above  argument,  point  them  out.  Most  certainly 
the  time  has  arrived  when  the  true  ministers  of  Christ  should  be  well 
prepared  to  sweep  away  the  sophistries  of  the  whole  semi-infidel  tribe 
who  would  bewilder  the  church  in  the  midst  of  Theological  fog,  instead 
of  placing  her  under  the  fertilizing  influences  of  Celestial  dew. 

"  Yours  Affectionately, 

"  C.  PITMAN." 

"  Doctor  Charles  Pitman  was  one  of  nature's  noblemen,  saved  by 
grace,  with  a  strong  mind,  with  fine  oratorical  powers,  including  a  sten- 
torian voice,  especially  when  aroused  by  lofty  thought,  and  was  emi- 
nently '  a  burning  and  a  shining  light.' 

"  Edgarlown,  Mass.,  May  12,  1887." 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 

SKETCHES  OF  SERMONS. 

I. 

THE  BEAUTY  AND  GLORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

Walk  about  Zion,  and  go  round  about  her :  tell  the  towers  thereof.  Mark  ye 
well  her  bulwarks,  consider  her  palaces ;  that  ye  may  tell  IT  to  the  generation 
following.  For  this  God4&  our  God  for  ever  and  ever;  he  will  be  our  guide  EVEN 
unto  death. — Psalm  48 :  12-14. 

This  Psalm  is  evidently  a  song  of  triumph,  written  on  occasion  of  some 
eminent  victory.  But  the  meaning  must  not  be  restricted  to  Jewish  times. 
Like  most  of  the  other  Psalms,  while  it  serves  to  commemorate  some 
great  historical  event,  it  may  very  properly  be  supposed  to  point  to  after 
times,  to  be  applicable  also,  to  the  glories  of  the  gospel  church,  of  which 
Jerusalem  was  a  type,  and  which  was  emphatically  called  "  the  city  of 
God"  and  "  the  city  of  the  Great  King,"  "  the  place  of  His  rest  forever, 
and  where  He  will  dwell."  It  is  enlightened  with  His  knowledge.  It 
is  devoted  to  His  honor.  It  is  the  place  appointed  for  His  worship  and 
solemn  service.  It  is  taken  under  His  special  protection.  It  was  beloved 
and  admired  throughout  the  ages  and  generations  of  history.  And  in 
all  these  respects  there  is  a  striking  resemblance  between  the  ancient 
Jerusalem  and  the  gospel  church. 

But,  again,  her  enemies  were  afraid  of  her  (see  verse  4).  The  kings 
of  the  earth  were  assembled,  but  the  very  sight  of  Jerusalem  struck 
into  them  consternation,  "  they  saw  it  and  marveled,  and  hasted  away." 
Though  they  were  kings  and  though  there  were  many  of  them  in  confed- 
eracy, yet  they  knew  themselves  an  unequal  match  for  Omnipotence, 
and  therefore  "  fear  came  upon  them  and  pain  "  (verse  6).  Their  defeat 
is  compared  to  the  dreadful  work  made  with  a  fleet  of  ships  by  a  violent 
storm,  when  some  are  split,  others  shattered  and  all  dispersed  (verse  7). 

The  use  that  the  people  of  God  are  taught  to  make  of  divine  interpo- 
sitions in  their  favor  is  here  noticed. 

First,  Their  faith  should  be  confirmed  (verse  8).    Second,  Their  hope 
should  be  encouraged.    Third,  They  should  think  much  of  His  loving- 
kindness  (verse  9).    Fourth,  They  should  give  glory  to  God  (verse  10). 
19  289 


290  LIFE  OF   REV.   CHARLES   PITMAN,   D.D. 

Fifth,  They  should  be  joyful  in  God  (verse  11).  Sixth,  They  should 
diligently  observe  the  instances  and  evidences  of  the  Church's  beauty 
and  strength  and  security,  and  faithfully  transmit  the  results  of  their 
observations  to  their  posterity  for  their  benefit.  This  clearly  is  the  sense 
of  the  text. 

First,  we  shall  consider  the  Church  of  God  under  a  figurative  repre- 
sentation. 

I.  She  has  her  bulwarks.  The  primary  allusion  here  most  probably 
was  to  the  strong  fortifications  of  Jerusalem  ;  but  the  reference,  doubt- 
less, is  to  the  Gospel  Church,  and  by  her  bulwarks  we  may  understand, 

1.  Her  excellent  doctrines. 

2.  Her  wholesome  discipline. 

3.  Her  union,  or  spiritual  co-operation. 

4.  The  divine  promises,  "I  will  be  a  wall,"  etc. 

5.  The  gracious  interpositions  of  Providence. 

II.  She  has  her  towers.    By  which  we  understand  the  places  occupied 
by  the  sentinels  in  the  anciently  fortified  cities,  to  whom  are  answerable 
the  ministers  of  the  gospel,  implying  that  their  office  is  (1)  Elevated, 
(2)  Responsible,  (3)  Essential  and  (4)  Highly  Useful. 

III.  She  has  her  palaces.    The  seat  of  the  royal  residence,  the  place 
of  splendid  entertainments.    Spiritually,  it  is  the  theatre  of  the  divine 
glory,  the  place  of  sacred  immunities  and  royal  privileges.    Consider, 

Secondly,  The  survey  here  proposed, "  Walk  about  Zion,"  etc.  Nothing 
is  lost  to  the  Church  by  the  examination  of  her  claims.  She  has  always 
courted  investigation.  It  is  true  she  makes  high  pretensions  and  claims 
the  homage,  both  of  the  intellect  and  the  heart,  but  she  has  nothing  to 
fear  from  the  most  scrutinizing  investigation. 

I.  She  claims  for  herself  heaven-derived  doctrines,  an  immovable 
foundation  and  immutable  promises.    "Mark  ye  well  her  bulwarks." 

II.  She  claims  a  divinely  authorized  ministry,  infallible  protection 
and  final  conquest.    "  Tell  ye  her  towers." 

III.  She  claims  distinguished  honors  and  royal  immunities.    "  Con- 
sider her  palaces." 

IV.  She  claims  a  divine  relationship  and  infallible  guidance.   "  For 
this  God  is  our  God,  and  He  will  be  our  guide  even  unto  death." 

The  survey  proposed  in  the  text  is  the  honest  investigation  of  all  these 
•claims.  These  claims  established,  we  proceed  to  show, 

Thirdly,  That  it  becomes  the  duty  of  all  the  votaries  of  Christianity 
to  endeavor  to  perpetuate  it  down  to  the  Tatest  generation.  "  That  ye 
may  tell  it  to  the  generations  following."  To  this  end, 

L  We  should  labor  for  a  succession  of  faithful  ministers. 


SKETCHES   OF  SEEMONS.  291 

II.  We  should  labor  for  high  and  holy  attainments  in  the  membership 
of  the  Church. 

III.  Parents  should  be  at  much  pains  to  inculcate  religious  truth 
upon  the  minds  and  hearts  of  their  children,  and  masters  and  guardians 
upon  all  those  under  their  care  and  instruction. 

IV.  All  Christians  should  unite  cheerfully  in  the  support  of  the  var- 
ious institutions  and  benevolent  enterprises  calculated  to  promote  this 
object. 

Lastly,  For  this  God  is  our  God  forever  and  ever. 

I.  This  is  the  language  of  personal  proprietorship,  and  it  is  founded 
in  truth.     In  the  covenant  of  grace,  God  makes  himself  over  to  His 
people,  saying,   "  I  will  be  thy  God,  and  all  that  I  have  is  thine,"  my 
perfections,  my  relations,  my  works,  my  word,  my  ordinances  and  all 
my  dispensations. 

II.  It  is  the  language  of  an  assured  proprietary.    "  This  God  is  our 
God."    It  is  a  relation  that  may  be  known  and  claimed,  and  with  what 
a  repetition  does  David  express  it.    "  I  will  love  Thee,  O  Lord,  my 
strength,"  "  The  Lord  is  my  rock,  and  my  fortress,  and  my  deliverer," 
etc.    Here  are  no  less  than  eight  distinct  appropriations  for  our  assur- 
ance and  Christian  confidence. 

III.  It  is  the  language  of  a  permanent  proprietary.   "This  is  our  God 
forever  and  ever."    No  power  is  subtle  enough  or  strong  enough  forci- 
bly to  dispossess  us  of  the  inheritance. 

IV.  It  is  the  language  of  an  exulting  proprietary,  not  that  of  self- 
sufficiency,  but  of  a  soul  making  its  boast  in  the  Lord.    Says  the 
Prophet  Haggai,  "  The  silver  is  mine,  and  the  gold  is  mine,"  etc.  (Hag- 
gai  2 :  8).    Inferences, 

1.  How  rich  the  Christian's  inheritance. 

2.  How  clear  and  satisfactory  his  title  to  it. 

3.  How  firmly  secured  is  his  inheritance  from  injustice,  force  and 
fraud.  

II. 

PRAYER  OF  SOLOMON  AT  DEDICATION  OF  THE  TEMPLE  AT 

JERUSALEM. 

Now,  my  God,  let,  I  beseech  thee,  thine  eyes  be  open,  and  LET  thine  ears  be  attent 
unto  the  prayir  THAT  is  MADE  in  this  place.  Now  therefore  arise,  0  LORD  God, 
into  thy  resting  place,  thou,  and  the  ark  of  thy  strength  ;  let  thy  priests,  0  LoKi> 
God,  be  clothed  with  salvation,  and  let  thy  saints  rejoice  in  goodness. — 2  Cbron. 
6  :  40,  41. 

The  consecration  of  buildings  erected  for  public  worship,  obtained 
very  early  practice  in  the  church  of  Christ.  Whether  this  practice  ex- 


292  LIFE   OF   REV.   CHARLES   PITMAN,    D.D. 

Uted  in  the  first  three  centuries,  we  have  no  certain  information,  but  we 
have  the  most  authentic  testimony  that  it  prevailed  to  a  very  great  ex- 
tent in  the  days  of  Constantine.  Eusebius  mentions  it  with  peculiar 
satisfaction,  to  which  Bingham  refers  in  his  Book  of  the  Antiquities  of 
the  Church,  Book  8,  Chap.  9,  Sec.  2. 

And  when  we  consider  for  what  holy  purpose  they  are  set  apart,  we 
can  have  no  doubt  but  that  it  is  a  service  highly  reasonable  in  itself  and 
truly  acceptable  unto  God.  The  idea  of  consecrating  such  edifices 
seems  to  have  been  suggested  by  the  dedication  of  Solomon's  Temple, 
which  exhibited  altogether  one  of  the  most  glorious  scenes  ever  beheld 
on  earth.  On  that  occasion  the  king  (who  was  himself  a  paragon  of 
wisdom,  and  the  greatest  monarch  of  his  day),  bowed  his  knees  before 
God  in  the  sight  of  all  the  congregation  of  Israel,  and  with  uplifted 
eyes  and  outstretched  hands,  implored  the  favor  of  his  God. 

To  this  prayer  was  vouchsafed  an  answer,  which  filled  all  the  specta- 
tors with  the  deepest  awe;  for  fire  came  down  from  heaven  in  the  sight 
of  all  to  consume  the  sacrifices,  and  the  glory  of  the  Lord  so  filled  the 
temple,  that  the  priests  could  no  longer  continue  their  ministrations. 
The  fuller  account  of  this  dedication  is  given  in  the  8th  chapter  of  the 
first  Book  of  Kings.  But  in  this  place  we  have  a  most  interesting  part 
of  Solomon's  prayer,  wherein  in  the  former  place  it  is  omitted.  The 
piety  and  pathos  of  these  concluding  sentences  are  worthy  of  the  high- 
est admiration.  Limiting  their  application  to  that  particular  occasion, 
they  would  be  found  replete  with  instruction;  but  knowing  as  we  do  the 
figurative  nature  of  that  whole  dispensation,  we  must  trace  their  bear- 
ing upon  our  own  times  and  upon  the  Christian  Church.  And  for  this 
purpose  we  will  show : 

First,  What  Solomon  so  earnestly  desired  and  so  devoutly  prayed  for, 
as  the  crown  of  all  his  labors  in  the  erection  of  the  temple.  In  grand- 
eur and  beauty,  this  edifice  exceeded  any  structure  that  ever  was  erected 
on  earth.  And  Solomon  had  deposited  the  ark  in  the  place  prepared 
for  it.  But  he  was  not  satisfied  with  having  executed  the  office  which 
God  had  so  graciously  assigned  him.  He  looked  for  some  token  of  the 
Divine  acceptance,  some  signal  manifestation  of  the  Divine  glory.  In 
short,  he  had  built  a  home  for  God,  and  he  looked  for  Him  to  come  and 
occupy  it  as  His  fixed  abode  and  resting  place. 

In  this  prayer  he  embraces 

(1)  The  notice  of  God's  eye.  "  Let  thine  eyes  be  opened  towards  this 
home."  Most  generally,  in  the  Scriptures,  this  phrase  signifies  approba- 
tion and  acceptance,  and  surely  this  should  be  the  aim  and  end  of  all 
our  actions.  What  is  the  applause  of  men  ?  and  what  is  our  own  self- 


SKETCHES   OF  SERMONS.  293 

complacency,  even  in  reference  to  moral  and  benevolent  enterprises, 
unless  the  purity  of  our  motives  and  the  object  of  our  efforts  secure  for 
us  the  Divine  approbation  and  sanction  ? 

(2)  The  attention  of  his  ear.  By  way  of  eminence  the  temple  was 
designated  "the  house  of  prayer/'  and  this  is  the  character  of  every  true 
house  of  worship ;  "  it  is  the  place  where  prayer  is  wont  to  be  made." 

It  is  true  we  have  other  places  of  prayer,  such  as  the  closet  and  the 
family  altar,  and  happy  is  the  man  who  delights  to  retire  in  secret,  to 
hold  private  fellowship  with  his  God ;  and  blessed  is  that  family  whose 
same  daily  devotions  present  them  to  the  notice  and  care  of  God.  But  let 
it  be  remembered  that  the  same  authority  which  has  instituted  the  duties 
of  the  closet  and  of  the  family,  has  established  also  the  obligation  of  pub- 
lic and  social  worship.  "  Not  forsaking  the  assembling  of  yourselves," 
etc.  Every  other  mode  of  worship  is  inferior  to  this.  Private  prayer 
is  designed  principally  for  personal  purposes,  family  worship  for  a 
blessing  upon  our  households  and  relatives,  circumstances  and  pursuits. 
Public  worship  includes  all  these,  and  much  more.  Large  and  general 
intercession  is  reserved  for  our  public  assemblies,  and  to  these  various 
and  comprehensive  petitions,  Solomon  invokes  the  attentive  ear  of 
heaven.  "  Let  thine  ear  be  attentive,"  etc. 

But  this  embraces 

3d.  The  instruction  of  his  word.  "  Arise  thou  and  the  ark  of  thy 
strength."  This  part  of  the  text  may  be  considered  a  prayer  for  spirit- 
ual instruction,  because  the  ark  contained  the  tables  of  the  Ten  Com- 
mandments and  a  copy  of  the  whole  law,  which  the  priests  were  ap- 
pointed to  teach.  This  was  essential  to  the  constitution  of  a  temple. 
In  like  manner  must  be  placed  in  our  churches  and  rest  there,  the  ark  of 
the  new  covenant  blessing,  i.  e.t  the  gospel  of  Christ,  of  which  the  ark 
was  only  a  type.  What  then  is  the  gospel  ?  This  question  will  find  an 
interesting  answer  by  referring  to  its  type,  the  ark  of  the  covenant.  The 
ark  was  a  chest  containing  the  law.  Its  covering  was  called  the  propi- 
tiary  or  mercy  seat,  on  which  was  sprinkled  the  blood  of  the  sacrifices, 
on  the  great  day  of  expiation.  Above  it  were  figures  of  cherubs,  and 
between  the  cherubim  was  the  visible  symbol  of  the  divine  presence 
and  glory,  and  may  not  this  type  be  realized,  in  that  pure  gospel  which 
affords  such  a  perfect  correspondence. 

(1)  The  gospel  is  law,— as  much  law  as  any  other  dispensation  of  God, 
and  a  gospel  of  mere  faith,  which  makes  void  the  law,  and  insists  not 
on  personal  holiness,  is  not  the  gospel  of  the  grace  of  God. 

(2)  The  gospel,  like  the  ark,  presents  law  in  connection  with  grace ; 
an  atonement,   a  sprinkled   mercy  seat,  justification  of  the  guilty,  by 


294  LIFE  OF  REV.   CHARLES  PITMAN,   D.D. 

faith.  A  gospel,  therefore,  of  morals  and  duties  and  ceremonies,  with- 
out a  sacrifice,  faith  and  pardon  is  not  the  gospel  prefigured  by  the  Ark 
of  the  Covenant. 

(3)  The  cherubim  at  the  extremities  of  the  mercy-seat  represented 
invisible  powers,  angels,  and  by  consequence,  a  spiritual  world  and  im- 
mortality.   To  this  the  gospel  answers,  Angels  are  God's  ministers,  and 
the  gospel  brings  us  into  more  immediate  connexion  with  them  at 
death,  and  associates  us  with  their  immortality.    Any  system,  therefore, 
directly  or  indirectly  opposed  to  these  views,  is  not  our  gospel.     But, 

(4)  And  above  all  was  the  Shekinah,  that  was  seen  in  constant  con- 
nexion with  the  ark,  and  most  strikingly  represents  the  grand  peculiari- 
ty of  Christianity,  that  God  is  ever  with  his  truth.    This,  indeed,  is  one 
of  the  most  impressive  representations  presented  by  the  ark  of  the  Cov- 
enant ;  the  presence  of  God  was  with  it.    It  is  that  which  gives  the  gos- 
pel all  its  efficiency,  as  it  was  that  which  made  the  ark,  "  the  ark  of  his 
strength."    The  power  of  that  was  not  in   the  wooden  chest  and  its 
stone,  no !  nor  in  its  mercy-seat,  overlaid  with  gold,  and  its  carved  cher- 
ubim ;  it  was  not  before  these  that  so  many  wonders  were  wrought  and 
victories  gained  for  Israel,  but  it  was  before  the  presence  of  the  Lord, 
the  God  of  Israel ;  God  arose  and  his  enemies  were  discomfited.      Thus 
it  is  not  "  in   word  only "  that  the  gospel  must  come  to  us,  but  in 
"  power,"  otherwise  it  would  be  inefficient  and  without  success.      It  is, 
therefore,  perfectly  clear,  that  the  instructions  of  the  word  and  the  ac- 
companying presence  of  its  Divine  Author  were  comprehended  in 
Solomon's  prayer,  and  should  be  embraced  in  our  petitions.    But  we 
proceed  to  observe  that  Solomon  prayed, 

Fourthly,  For  a  holy  and  successful  priesthood.  "  Let  thy  Priests, 
O  Lord  God,  be  clothed  with  salvation."  This  is  an  allusion  made  to 
the  garments  of  the  priests,  which  were  white,  as  emblems  of  purity. 
"To  be  clothed  with  salvation  "  or  righteousness,  signifies  that  they 
should  have  a  personal  experience  of  what  they  teach.  This  is  an  in- 
dispensable qualification.  For 

(1)  No  man  can  teach  what  he  does  not  know,  and  no  man  can  fully 
understand  spiritual  truth  but  by  experience. 

(2)  No  man  can  be  properly  affected  in  the  discharge  of  his  high  and 
responsible  office  as  a  minister,  without  a  deep  and  constant  experience. 
Heart  must  seize  heart,  and  this  is  the  soul  of  all  holy  eloquence.     But, 

(3)  Unconverted  ministers  have  no  promise  of  success.     "  Lo,  I  am 
with  you  alway,"  belongs  to  those  who  had  received  Jesus,  and  were 
waiting  for  "  the  promise  of  the  Father."    They  received  it,  and  success 
crowned  their  labors.    But  these  great  blessings  for  which  Solomon 


SKETCHES   OF  SERMONS.  295 

prayed,  and  which  we  now  implore  for  the  church  in  this  place,  may 
not  be  granted  unconstitutionally.  We  will,  therefore,  call  your 
attention  : 

Secondly.  To  the  implied  obligation  of  the  church  for  whom  this 
prayer  was  offered ;  or,  the  conditions  upon  which  these  bold,  yet  appro- 
priate petitions  may  be  answered- 

(1)  That  the  worship  of  the  temple  may  be  performed  under  the  ap- 
proving eye  of  Jehovah. 

Its  worship  must  be  spiritual.  Mere  lip  service  can  never  be  accepta- 
ble to  God.  The  splendid  ceremonial  of  the  Jewish  worship  could  not 
be  substituted  for  the  homage  of  the  heart.  It  is  the  heart  for  which 
God  calls,  the  feeling  heart,  the  sigh  of  penitence,  the  whole  strength 
and  purpose  of  our  affections.  But  again, 

(2)  It  must  be  the  worship  of  faith.    Such  was  that  of  Solomon  ;  he 
offered  bleeding  sacrifices,  symbols  of  faith  in  the  Messiah.     None  en- 
ters here  but  by  blood.     "  Without  the  shedding  of  blood  there  ia  no  re- 
mission."   The  remembered  and  appropriated  sacrifice  of  Jesus  is  the 
worship,  which  God  only  can  approve.  « 

(3)  It  must  be  characterized  by  purity.    Not  that  God  will  not  hear 
the  prayer  of  a  polluted  and  vile  sinner,  but  that  sin  must  be  repented 
of,  abhorred  and  forsaken.     The  temple  of  Solomon  had  its  immense 
laver ;  the  laver  of  regeneration  is  here  made  known.   "  Wash  and  be 
clean  ;  "  "  put  off  thy  shoes  from  off  thy  feet,"  "  cleanse  yourselves  from 
all  your  filthiness,"  "  for  the  place  on  which  thou   standest  is  holy 
ground." 

2d.  The  text  contains  a  prayer  for  the  attention  of  God's  ear. 
This  clearly  implies  that  his  house  is  emphatically  "  a  house  of  pray- 
er."    But  what  is  the  character  of  the  prayers  to  be  offered  to  him  ? 

1.  Personal  prayers,  arising  from  a  consciousness  of  guilt,  weakness, 
etc.     "  Then  hear  thou  from  the  heavens  and  forgive  the  sin  of  thy 
people  Israel,"  etc. 

2.  Prayers  for  ministers  are  to  be  made  here  in  this  temple.    You 
cannot  refuse  them  this,  when  so  much  depends  upon  prayer  for  their 
success  in  God's  work. 

3.  Prayers  for  the  people  of  this  place  and  its  vicinity  will  be  made 
here ;  all  have  a  deep  interest  in  this  house;  they  are  to  be  prayed  for, 
here,  in  this  place. 

4.  Prayer  for  our  land  and  nation  will  be  offered  here.      Every  Chris- 
tian is  a  philanthropist  and  a  patriot.      God  governs  nations  and  peo- 
ples. 

5.  Prayer  for  the  extension  of  Christ's  kingdom  will  be  offered  here  ; 


296  LIFE  OP  REV.   CHARLES  PITMAN,   D.D. 

all  moral  and  spiritual  enterprises  will  be  remembered  and  presented 
before  the  Lord. 

3d.  The  prayer  of  the  text  embraces  the  instruction  of  the  word. 
"  Arise,  O  Lord  God,  into  thy  resting  place,  thou,"  etc.  From  this  ut- 
terance of  Solomon,  it  is  legitimately  to  be  inferred,  that  it  is  the  duty 
of  all  who  enter  the  temple  of  God,  to  hear  his  word : 

(1)  With  a  docile  and  teachable  disposition.     "  In  thy  light  let  me 
see  light,"  etc. 

(2)  In  the  spirit  of  self-application.     "  Search  me,  O  God,  and  try 
me,"  etc. 

(3)  With  the  unflinching  purpose  of  practising  the  great  and  inter- 
esting truths  we  are  taught. 

(4)  For  the  purpose  of  strengthening  our  faith  and  multiplying  our 
comforts. 

But  the  prayer  of  the  text  embraces  in  the 

4th  place,  A  holy  and  successful  priesthood.  What  then  is  the  duty 
of  the  church  in  reference  to  her  ministry  ?  To  this  we  would  answer : 

(1)  She  should  declare  her  decided  disapprobation  of  the  philosophi- 
zing, compromising  minister,  however  learned,  courteous,  or  eloquent 
he  may  be.    He  is  a  usurper,  and  the  church's  bane. 

(2)  She  should  honor  the  faithful  minister,  though  he  be  not  a  giant 
in  intellectual  strength.     His  holiness  should  be  his  passport  to  her  af- 
fection and  confidence. 

(3)  She  should  avail  herself  of  all  the  advantages  of  a  spiritual  min- 
istry, and  rejoice  in  "his  goodness,  by  whom  it  is  given  and  sustained." 


III. 

HOLY  ZEAL  FOR  THE  ENLARGEMENT  OF  ZION. 
And  1  will  glorify  the  house  of  my  glory.—  Isaiah  60  :  latter  clause  of  7th  verse. 

The  inspired  penman,  the  author  of  this  work,  is  by  way  of  distinction 
and  eminence  justly  denominated  the  evangelical  prophet.  And  it  is 
not  dim  cult  to  perceive  the  reason  and  propriety  of  the  appellation. 
For  although  with  the  other  prophets,  he  occasionally  dwells  upon  the 
rise  and  fall  of  kingdoms  and  nations,  the  judgments  of  God  upon  the 
stubborn  and  rebellious  Jews,  yet  his  most  common  and  delightful  theme 
is  the  coming  of  the  Messiah,  his  character,  offices  and  vicarious  sacri- 
fice, together  with  the  extent  of  his  reign  and  the  glory  of  his  kingdom. 
In  the  chapter  with  which  our  text  stands  connected,  the  subject  is  the 


SKETCHES   OF  SERMONS.  297 

flourishing  condition  of  the  church  at  that  period  of  the  Gospel  dispen- 
sation, when  the  Jews  shall  be  converted  and  gathered  from  their  disper- 
sion, and  when  the  fulness  of  the  Gentiles  shall  come  in,  and  the  king- 
doms of  this  world  shall  become  the  kingdom  of  our  Lord  and  his 
Christ.  Such  was  the  prospect  which  burst  upon  his  enraptured  vision, 
lighted  up  by  the  splendor  of  holy  inspiration,  that  he  seems  to  have 
been  elevated  above  his  usual  majesty.  This  subject  is  portrayed  in  the 
most  lively  colors  and  is  characterized  by  a  simplicity  and  dignity  which 
declares  the  Divinity  of  its  origin  and  the  certainty  of  its  accomplishment. 
The  imagery  employed,  is  of  the  most  magnificent  description,  and 
is  designed  to  give  a  general  and  luminous  view  of  the  glories  of  that 
perfect  state  of  the  church  which  we  are  taught  to  look  for  in  the  latter 
times.  The  parallel  passage  to  our  text  is  found  in  the  prophecy  of 
Haggai,  2:  7-9.  The  superior  glory  promised  in  this  passage 
can  only  have  its  explanation  in  the  grand  scheme  of  human  salvation 
ushered  in  by  the  Messiah's  advent,  and  when  Eedemption's  price  was 
paid  down  for  a  lost  world. 

Both  passages  are  doubtless  applicable  to  the  Christian  Church,  the 
real  house  of  God ;  the  glory  of  which  is  most  certainly  greater  than  any 
glory  which  was  ever  possessed  by  the  Jews.  The  glory  to  which  these 
Scriptures  have  a  special  allusion,  was  seen  while  the  second  temple  was 
still  in  existence ;  when  it  was  graced  with  the  presence  of  Him,  who 
was  God  Incarnate,  "  Immanuel,"  "  God  with  us,"  and  who  gave  himself 
a  ransom  for  the  world. 

Having  taken  this  cursory  and  summary  view  of  our  subject  by  way 
of  introduction  we  shall  enter  upon  its  more  particular  discussion  and 
application  according  to  the  following  plan,  viz. — In  these  words  we 
have, — 

First,  The  true  Church  of  God  figuratively  represented.  "  A  house." 
Second,  Its  distinguishing  application.  "  The  house  of  my  glory." 
Third,  The  dignity  to  which  she  is  exalted.    "  I  will  glorify  her." 
I.  We  shall  consider  the  Church  of  Christ  under  the  appropriate  im- 
age by  which  she  is  characterized  "  A  house." 

To  those  who  are  acquainted  with  the  holy  Scriptures  it  is  scarcely 
necessary  to  say  that  the  terms  "  Temple,'*  "  House "'  and  "  House  of  the 
Lord,"  are  frequently  and  indiscriminately  used  as  descriptive  of  the 
universal  church,  composed  as  it  is  of  the  whole  body  of  true  believers. 
In  a  Jewish  writer,  this  allusion  was  peculiarly  natural,  especially  if  we 
consider  the  importance  attached  to  the  house  of  God  in  Jerusalem. 
This  image  is  exceedingly  appropriate  for  several  reasons,  among  which 
we  may  name  the  following : 


298  LIFE   OF   REV.    CHARLES   PITMAN,   D.D. 

1.  A  Temple  is  a  place  divinely  consecrated.     As  the  house  of  God  at 
Jerusalem  was  appropriated  to  sacred  uses,  so  all  the  members  of  the 
Evangelical   church  are  chosen  out  of,  and  separated  from  the  world 
and  consecrated  to  the  service  of  God.      "  The  Lord  hath  set  apart  him 
that  is  godly  for  himself,"  and  they  set  themselves  apart  by  a  voluntary 
surrender.     "  One  shall  say  I  am  the  Lord's,  another  shall  call  himself 
by  the  name  of  Jacob  ;   and  another  shall  subscribe  with  his  hand  to  the 
Lord,  and  surname  himself  by  the  name  of  Israel." 

2.  It  is  the  seat  of  royal  residence.      A  mansion  is  a  dwelling  for  a 
nobleman,  a  palace   for  a  king,  a  temple  for  a  God.     The  Church  is 
called  the  Temple  of  the  Lord  because  He  occupied  it.  "Know  ye  not," 
says  the  Apostle  to  the  Corinthians,  that  "  ye  are  the  temple  of  God ;  if 
any  man  defile  the  temple  of  God,  him  shall  God  destroy ;  for  the  tem- 
ple of  God  is  holy,  which  temple  ye  are  "  (1  Cor.  3  :   16,  17).   Again, 
"God  hath  chosen  Zion  for  his  habitation."     "This  is  my  rest  forever, 
here  will  I  dwell,  for  I  have  desired  it"  (Psa.  132  :  13-14).     The  church 
is  also  called  "  the  City  of  our  God,"  which  is  to  be  the  joy  of  the  whole 
earth  (Psa.  48 :  1-2). 

3.  It  is  a  place  of  Spiritual  Devotion.      There  the  Lord  Jehovah  re- 
ceives spiritual  homage,  adoration  and  worship.      "  Spiritual  Sacrifices 
are  offered  up."  Mark  the  language  of  the  holy  Psalmist ;  "  One  thing 
have  I  desired  of  the  Lord,  that  will  I  seek  after,  that  I  may  dwell  in  the 
house  of  the  Lord  all  the  days  of  my  life,  to  behold  the  beauty  of  the 
Lord  and  to  inquire  in  his  temple"  (Psa.  27:  4).     Hear  him  again.    In 
view  of  this  his  soul  rises  into  a  holy  fervor  and  he  exclaims,  "  How  amia- 
ble are  thy  tabernacles,  0  Lord  of  hosts,  my  soul  longeth,  yea  even 
fainteth  for  the  courts  of  the  Lord.   My  heart  and  my  flesh  crieth  out  for 
the  living  God  "  (Psa.  84 :  1-2).     Again,  "  Blessed  are  they  that  dwell  in 
thy  house,  they  will  be  still  praising  thee."  So  the  apostle  exclaims,  "Ye 
also  as  lively  stones,  are  built  up  a  spiritual  house,  an  holy  priesthood,  to 
offer  up  spiritual  sacrifices  acceptable  unto  God  by  Jesus  Christ "  (1 
Peter  2 :  5).      In  this  house  the  name  of  God  is  reverenced,  his   laws 
revered,  and  his  worship  performed,  while  the  adoring  worshipers  ex- 
claim, "  This  is  none  other  but  the  house  of  God  and  the  gate  of  heav- 
en "  (Gen.  28 :  17). 

Second.  We  shall  notice  her  distinguishing  appellation.  "The  house 
of  my  glory." 

1.  The  glory  of  God  is  displayed  in  the  ministry  of  his  word,  and  in 
the  institutions  of  his  house.  We  have  already  intimated  that  the 
glory  of  the  latter  house  spoken  of  by  the  prophet  Haggai,  in  its  ulti- 
mate and  spiritual  meaning,  regards  the  glory  of  the  gospel  church  in 


SKETCHES  OF  SERMONS.  299 

its  authority  over  that  of  the  Jewish  dispensation  (greater  than  the 
Jewish  Church).  John  bears  witness  that  this  "  glory  was  seen  taber- 
nacling  in  flesh  and  blood,  and  they  beheld  it,  as  the  glory  of  the  only 
begotten  of  the  Father,  full  of  grace  and  truth"  (John  1 :  14).  The  ark 
of  the  covenant  was  called  the  glory  of  the  Lord,  because  it  represented 
"  God  manifest  in  the  flesh,"  therefore  said  the  mother  of  Ichabod, 
when  the  ark  was  taken,  "  the  glory  is  departed."  And  truly  may  it  be 
said  of  that  church,  where  the  doctrines  of  the  cross  are  either  discarded 
or  corrupted,  "  the  glory  is  departed."  Jesus  Christ,  and  him  crucified, 
constitutes  the  centre  and  sum  of  the  gospel  system.  When  Christ  ap- 
peared on  earth,  then  the  "  brightness  of  the  Divine  glory  and  the  ex- 
press image  of  Jehovah's  Person "  shone  with  a  peculiar  splendor. 
When  the  pious  and  devout  Simeon  took  up  his  infant  Lord  in  his  arms 
he  called  him  "  the  Light  who  should  lighten  the  Gentiles,  and  the  glory 
of  thy  people  Israel"  (Luke  2:  32).  The  doctrines  of  the  mediatorial 
scheme,  when  unfolded  in  their  universal  adaptation,  spiritual  amplitude 
and  moral  tendencies,  constitute  the  glory  of  the  church.  See  this 
subject  luminously  set  forth  in  the  apostle's  admirable  contrast  in  2d 
Cor.  3:  7-11. 

2.  In  the  manifestations  of  his  presence.  The  visible  symbolical  ap- 
pearance of  God,  called  by  the  Jews  the  "  Shekinah,"  was  in  the  most 
holy  place  between  the  wings  of  the  Cherubim  above  the  Ark.  It  ap- 
pears, therefore,  that  the  first  Temple  was  the  dwelling-place  of  God,  for 
here  he  manifested  his  glory  between  the  Cherubim,  and  it  was  his  con- 
stant residence  for  more  than  four  hundred  years.  In  gospel  times,  the 
manifestation  of  the  Divine  presence  is  the  ministration  of  the  Spirit 
giving  efficiency  to  the  preached  word,  and  spiritually  to  all  the  services 
and  privileges  of  the  church.  With  respect  to  the  ministry,  the  Spirit's 
hallowing  influences  are  comprehended  in  that  soul-stirring  promise, 
"  Lo  I  am  with  you  alway,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world."  And  in 
regard  to  the  membership  of  the  church  they  are  explained  in  the  prom- 
ise, "  Where  two  or  three  are  met  together  in  my  name  there  am  I  in  the 
midst  of  them."  Thus  he  glorifies  his  house  by  his  spiritual  presence. 

Third.  God  is  glorified  in  the  members  of  his  household. 

1.  By  spiritual  participation.  They  derive  all  their  excellencies  from  him. 
They  perform  all  their  duties  by  him.    They  ascribe  all  the  glory  to  him. 

2.  By  Spiritual  Conformity.     "  Being  changed  into  the  same  image," 
they  adorn  the  doctrine  of  God  our  Saviour  in  all  things.     As  ministers 
we  contend  from  Sabbath  to  Sabbath  that  our  doctrines  "  are  according 
to  godliness,"  yet  after  all,  we  mtfst  come  to  the  written  Word  for  our 
proofs.    "  Ye  are  our  living  epistles  read  and  known  of  all  men." 


300  LIFE   OF   REV.    CHARLES    PITMAN,    D.D. 

3.  By  the  cheerfulness  of  their  lives.     We  hear  one  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment saints  exclaim,  "  Thy  comforts  delight  my  soul,"  again,  "  Thy  word 
was  found  of  me,  aud  I  did  eat  it,  and  it  was  the  joy  and  rejoicing  of  my 
heart,"  again,  "  Thy  statutes  have  been  my  song  in  the  house  of  my  pil- 
grimage."   Hear  also  the  language  of  the  New  Testament  saints.  "  Our 
rejoicing  is  the  testimony  of  a  good  conscience."  "  Who  comforteth  us  in 
all  our  tribulations."  "Sorrowful  yet  always  rejoicing.1'    See  this  cheer- 
fulness exemplified  in  our  time.      In  the  excellent  Payson's  Memoir,  in 
a  letter  to  his  sister. — In  the  life  of  the  learned  and  pious  Adam  Clarke. 
See  Life,  vol.  I.  last  page. 

4.  In  their  willing  and  patient  sufferings.     Peter  and  John  "  rejoiced 
that  they  were  counted  worthy  to  suffer  shame  for  his  name's  sake."  Hear 
Paul's  own  account  of  his  sufferings.     "  In  labors  more  abundant,  in 
stripes  above  measure,  in  prisons  more  frequent,  in  deaths  oft,"  etc.  (2d 
Cor.  11 :  23-28).  Witness  also  his  patience  and  resignation.  "  I  take  plea- 
sure in  infirmities,  reproaches,"  etc.    See  also  the  testimony  of  the  mar- 
tyrs, etc. 

5.  By  their  public  profession  of  his  name.    The  church  receives  light 
that  she  may  reflect  it — "  Arise,  shine  for  thy  light  is  come,"  etc.  "  Who 
will  rise  up  for  me  against  the  evil  doer  ?  "     A  Christian  is  compared  to 
a  "  candle  which  is  lighted,  not  to  be  put  under  a  bushel,  but  on  a  can- 
dlestick, that  it  may  give  light  to  all  that  are  in  the  house."   Christians 
are  called  "  fellow-citizens  with  the  saints."    They  belong  to  a  holy  state 
of  laws  and  immunities.      They  join  in  communion  as  to  the  privileges 
of  religion  ;  in  co-operation  as  to  its  duties  ;  and  in  sympathy  as  to  its 
conditions. 

6.  By  their  exertions,  for  their  promotion  of  his  cause.  In  the  diligent 
use  of  all  the  various  talents  and  capacities. 

Third.  The  dignity  to  which  she  is  exaked.  I  will  glorify  her. 
As  God  is  glorified,  in  and  by  the  church,  so  the  church  shall  be  glori- 
fied by  him. 

1.  In  the  augmentation  of  her  numbers,  see  Isa.  60 :  5,  8, 11,  22,  Isa. 
49 :  19,  20,  21. 

2.  In  the  increase  of  her  light,  see  Zech.  14 :  7-8.  Isa.  60 :  20.     Isa. 
60 :  1,  2,  3. 

3.  In  the  advancement  of  her  purity,  see  Isa.  62 :  2,  3, 12.     Isa.  59  : 
21. 

4.  In  the  subjugation  of  her  enemies,  see  Isa.  60:  12-14. 

5.  In  the  multiplication  of  her  triumphs,  see  Isa.  49 :  23,  24,  25.   Isa 
60:  15-16. 

In  her  triumphant  state  she  shall  be  glorified. 


SKETCHES   OP  SERMONS.  301 

1.  In  the  vastness  of  her  numbers. 

2.  In  the  completeness  of  their  deliverance. 

3.  In  the  grandeur  of  her  elevation. 

"  A  Temple  filled  with  Godhead,  its  walls  his  attributes,  its  roof  his 
majesty,  its  gates  his  eternity,  and  to  worship  in  this  temple,  to  live  in 
this  temple,  to  worship  God  in  God,"  forever. 

4.  In  the  beauty  of  her  residence. 

"  The  heavenly  temple  will  present  no  aspect  of  material  perishable 
matter,  but  one  brilliant  manifestation  of  the  Godhead.  Its  walls  com- 
posed of  the  sapphire,  and  the  cloud,  and  in  the  solemn  grandeur,  and 
the  splendid  consecration  of  righteousness,  and  truth,  and  justice,  and 
love,  and  kindness,  mingling  themselves  for  its  roof,  shall  forever  shield 
the  household  of  God's  elect  to  all  eternity." 

5.  In  the  eternity  of  her  joys.     They  are  everlasting,  they  will  know 
no  diminution  or  change — as  long  as  eternal  ages  shall  continue  to  roll 
for  ever  and  ever. 


rv. 

THE  NATURE  AND   PREACHING  OF  THE  GOSPEL. 
And  there  they  preached  the  gospel. — Acts  14 :  7. 

It  was  no  part  of  the  object  of  the  sacred  writers  to  gratify  public 
curiosity  either  by  scientific  exhibitions  or  appeals  to  the  imagination. 
It  is  true  they  inform  us  that  the  great  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles  once  stood 
amid  the  beauties  of  Athenian  glory ;  but  they  tell  us  of  nothing  con- 
nected with  this  visit  but  the  agitation  and  grief  of  his  soul  on  witnessing 
the  superstitions  and  idolatry  of  the  people. 

The  statues  and  the  temples — the  very  fragments  of  which,  in  some 
minds,  produce  an  almost  idolatrous  reverence,  and  which  were  then  in 
the  autumnal  charms  of  their  vicious  loveliness — were  by  them  passed 
over  unnoticed.  And  now,  when  the  sacred  historian  relates  the  circum- 
stances of  their  visit  to  several  other  Grecian  cities,  it  is  remarkable  that 
every  thing  is  passed  over  in  silence  but  one  solitary  fact,  and  that  the 
very  fact  which  other  historians  would  have  thought  beneath  their  notice 
to  record. 

Their  cities,  temples,  science,  philosophy,  all  would  have  been  without 
attractions,  and  would  probably  have  been  passed  over  without  a  notice 
if  it  could  have  been  said,  "There  they  preached  the  gospel." 

Here  is  a  fact,  my  brethren,  which  doubtless  at  this  moment  awakens 
a  deep  interest  both  in  heaven  and  hell.  Many  a  glorified  spirit  in 


302  LIFE   OF   REV.    CHARLES    PITMAN,   D.D. 

heaven  and  many  a  lost  one  in  hell  are  looking  back  to  these  cities,  and 
with  very  different  emotions  are  saying,  "  There  they  preached  the  gos- 
pel." And  it  is  with  this  fact  that  we  design  to  associate  the  solemnities 
of  this  morning. 

We  are  commencing  transactions  here  of  which,  through  eternity,  the 
short,  the  simple,  the  sublime  record  will  be  the  language  of  the  text. 
The  memorial  of  this  house  is  not  to  be  preserved  as  a  place  of  splendid 
architecture,  oratorical  display,  or  of  ceremonial  pomp,  but  as  a  place 
where  "the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus'*  is  preached  in  its  purity;  as  a  place 
of  which  it  may  be  said  with  emphasis,  "  There  they  preached  the  gos- 
pel." 

And  now,  as  this  church  may  be  considered  as  a  new  territory  to  be 
ceded  to  the  "  King  of  kings  "  and  "  Lord  of  lords,"  you  will  allow  me 
this  day  to  unfurl  the  flag  of  salvation  and  claim  it  for  Christ,  and  in  hia 
name  possess  it. 

In  discoursing  on  this  subject,  which  by  many  may  be  thought  to  be 
somewhat  trite,  I  shall  first  offer  a  few  remarks  upon  the  nature  of  the 
gospel ;  secondly,  attempt  to  show  what  it  is  to  preach  the  gospel ;  and 
thirdly,  endeavor  to  prove  the  paramount  importance  of  preaching  the 
gospel. 

First.  We  will  endeavor  to  explain  the  nature  of  the  gospel.  In 
simple  etymology  the  term  means  "glad  tidings."  In  Christian  theology 
the  term  signifies  "the  glad  tidings  of  salvation  through  Jesus  Christ  the 
Lord."  It  will  perhaps  be  best  explained  by  a  reference  to  the  various 
designations  given  to  it  by  the  sacred,  writers.  And 

1.  It  is  called  "the  gospel  of  the  grace  of  God,"  because  the  whole  sys- 
tem originated  in  free  and  unmerited  favor. 

2.  It  is  called  "  the  everlasting  gospel,"  because  it  occupied  the  coun- 
sels of  the  Divine  mind  from  eternity,  remains  the  same  amidst  all  the 
changes  and  revolutions  of  time,  and  will  extend  its  benefits  over  the  ages 
and  cycles  of  the  future  world. 

3.  It  is  called  "the  glorious  gospel  of  the  blessed  God,"  because  it 
manifests  and  illustrates  all  the  attributes  combined  in  the  moral  char- 
acter of  Jehovah  in  all  their  harmony  and  glory. 

4.  It  is  called  "  the  gospel  of  the  kingdom,"  because  it  is  the  basis  on 
which  the  whole  kingdom  of  the  Redeemer  rests.    It  includes  in  it  the 
Divinity  of  Christ,  the  atoning  sacrifice  that  was  offered  for  our  redemp- 
tion, the  justification  of  our  persons  in  the  sight  of  God,  and  the  entire 
renovation  and  sanctification  of  our  natures  by  the  influence  and  power 
of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

Secondly.  We  shall  attempt  to  show  what  it  ia  to  preach  the  gospel 


SKETCHES  OF  SERMONS.  303 

summarily.  It  is  to  explain  its  nature,  exhibit  its  blessings,  and  to  en- 
force its  obligations.  It  is  not  to  exhibit  a  mere  system  of  morals,  how- 
ever far  it  may  be  removed  from  the  cold  and  cheerless  systems  of  Epic- 
tetus  and  Seneca;  not  to  dwell  upon  the  high  and  mysterious  doctrines  of 
Predestination.  We  remark 

1.  It  is  to  exhibit  the  fact  of  the  Saviour's  crucifixion,  and  the  design  of 
that  fact.     I  say  there  must  be  a  union  of  the  fact  and  the  design,  other- 
wise it  would  not  be  gospel.    Separate  the  death  of  Christ  from  its  desiga 
as  a  vicarious  offering  for  sin,  or  exhibit  it  as  the  closing  scene  of  an  il- 
lustrious martyr,  or  an  unimpeachable  witness  of  the  truth,  and  there  is 
no  gospel  in  the  message. 

2.  It  is  to  exhibit  Christ  in  the  Divinity  of  his  character  and  the  effi- 
cacy of  his  death.     The  Divinity  of  Christ  is  essential  to  his  atonement. 
An  atonement  properly  understood  signifies  an  equivalent  either  in  kind 
or  degree.    The  sufferings  of  Christ  were  not  an  equivalent  in  kind,  but 
in  degree  and  effect. 

3.  It  is  to  exhibit  the  death  of  Christ  as  the  only  foundation  of  a  lost 
sinner's  hope.    It  procures  his  pardon  and  restores  him  to  the  Divine 
favor. 

4.  It  is  to  exhibit  the  sacrifice  of  Christ  as  the  only  means  in  the  hands 
of  the  Spirit  of  sanctifi cation.     It  not  only  brings  the  pardon  of  a  sov- 
ereign, but  the  healing  balm  of  the  physician. 

5.  It  is  to  exhibit  Christ  in  the  prevalency  of  his  intercession.    "  We 
have  not  an  High  Priest,"  &c. 

i  6.  It  is  to  preach  Christ  as  the  Resurrection  and  Eternal  Life  to  all 
that  believe.  These  are  the  great  fundamental  truths  which  make  up 
the  gospel. 

7.  It  is  to  exhibit  the  invitation  of  mercy  as  co-extensive  with  the  as- 
pect of  the  atonement,  and  to  exhibit  both  as  co-extensive  with  the  reach 
of  human  guilt  and  extent  of  misery  in  the  world. 

Third.    The  paramount  importance  of  preaching  the  gospel. 

1.  This  may  be  seen  in  the  grandeur  of  its  ultimate  design.    This  de- 
sign is  nothing  commercial,  nothing  scientific,  nothing  political,  nothing 
philosophical.    The  minister  of  Christ,  when  preaching  the  gospel  of  the 
Redeemer,  is  infinitely  above  the  philosopher  in  his  study,  the  statesman 
in  his  cabinet,  the  traveler  in  his   observations.    The  noblest  employ- 
ments and  enterprise  of  man,  compared  with  his,  are  but  as  the  puerili- 
ties of  children  or  the  trifles  of  a  moment.    The  great  design  of  the  gos- 
pel ministry  is  the  salvation  of  immortal  souls,  in  connection  with  the 
manifestation  of  the  Divine  glory. 

2.  In  its  actual  benefits,  individually  and  collectively.    Look  at  its 


304  LIFE   OF    REV.    CHARLES   PITMAN,   D.D. 

effects  on  individual  character.  It  knows  no  exclusiveness.  It  melts 
down  the  most  incorrigible.  It  saves  the  most  abandoned.  In  view  of 
the  glorious  efficacy  of  the  gospel,  there  are  no  desperate  cases.  Then 
see  its  effects  upon  communities :  how  it  meliorates  human  condition, 
softens  the  asperities  of  our  nature,  and  gives  peace  to  our  consciences 
and  rest  to  our  souls.  In  a  word,  how  it  elevates  society,  and  ennobles 
human  nature,  and  dignifies  human  beings.  And  who  can  tell  what  its 
restraining  influence  upon  society  is  generally?  The  gospel  is  the  only 
conservator  of  public  morals.  But  for  this  our  fair  country  would  be  soon 
overcome  with  profligacy  and  licentiousness. 

3.  In  its  astonishing  adaptations  to  accomplish  these  effects,  nothing 
can  be  substituted  for  it.    Intellect,  science,  eloquence,  none  of  these  will 
do  without  the  gospel ;  and  however  they  may  serve  as  auxiliaries,  the 
gospel,  even  without  them,  is  adapted  as  a  means  to  an  end.   It  is  in  itself 
"  the  power  of  God  and  the  wisdom  of  God.1' 

4.  By  a  reference  to  the  history  of  its  effects.     Passing  over  the  ante- 
diluvian, the  patriarchal,  the  ceremonial  and  the  prophetical  ages  of  the 
Old  Testament  history,  we  notice  the  effects  of  apostolic  preaching. 
Most  emphatically  may  it  be  said  that  wherever  souls  were  converted, 
pagan  temples  were  abandoned,  idols  were  cast  to  the  "  moles  and  bats." 
"There  they  preached  the  gospel,1'  and  proclaimed  Christ  as  the  author 
of  salvation.     Persecutors  endeavored  to  stop  their  career ;  but  the  blood 
of  the  martyr  illustrated  the  truth  of  the  gospel.     His  dying  groans 
gave  force  to  his  testimony,  and  his  truth  survived  himself  in  the  hands 
of  those  who  were  converted  around  his  scaffold  or  at  his  stake.     But 
after  a  time  the  Church  formed  an  alliance  with  earthly  power.    The 
dark  ages  came  on,  and  the  darker  night  of  superstition  covered  the 
hearts  of  men  and  spread  spiritual  death  over  half  the  known  world. 
But  what  was  it,  when  these  had  rolled  away,  that  struck  down  a  third 
part  of  that  colossal  fabric  of  Roman  superstition,  and  cracked  and  un- 
settled all  the  rest,  beyond  the  architecture  of  Eome  to  make  it  sound 
or  substantial  again?    It  was  the  preaching  of  the  gospel  from  the 
lips  of  Luther  that  revolutionized  the  whole  continent  of  the  Eastern 
world. 

Leaving  other  ages  dark  and  bloody  and  troubled,  what  was  it,  when 
the  Church,  having  gained  the  act  of  Toleration,  used  it  as  a  downy 
pillow  on  which  it  fell  asleep?  What  was  it  that  aroused  her  from 
her  downy  slumbers?  The  preaching  of  Wesley  and  Whitefield. 
Then  were  energies  awakened  in  the  Church  which  will  never  sleep 
again  until  the  ushering  in  of  the  Millenial  glory  and  the  universal  reign 
of  the  King  of  righteousness.  See  then  the  importance  of  the  gospel. 


SKETCHES   OF  SERMONS.  305 

We  close  by  adding  two  or  three  inferences : 

1.  We  learn  from  this  subject  what  constitutes  the  chief  interest,  im- 
portance and  glory  of  places  of  public  worship. 

2.  We  learn  the  legitimate  sphere  and  chief  glory  of  the  pulpit. 

3.  We  learn  the  obligations  to  provide  places  of  public  worship  and  to 
sustain  them  by  the  presence,  the  prayers,  and  the  means  of  the  wor- 
shippers. 


V. 

EVANGELICAL  PREACHING. 

Whom  we  preach,  warning  every  man,  and  teaching  every  man  in  all  wisdom  ; 
that  we  may  present  every  man  perfect  in  Christ  Jesus:  Whereunto  I  also  labor; 
striving  according  to  his  working,  which  worketh  in  me  mightily. — Col.  1 :  28,  29. 

In  this  chapter,  which  is  the  opening  of  the  epistle,  we  have  the 
Apostle's  usual  inscription  and  salutation  to  his  Christian  Brethren  at 
Colosse.  He  then  gives  a  very  high  commendation  to  the  Colossians,  for 
their  faith  and  love,  and  a  very  solemn  prayer  for  their  advancement 
and  perseverance  in  grace.  He  then  proceeds  to  enumerate,  in  a  sum- 
mary way,  those  great  fundamental  truths  of  Christianity  which  had 
been  instrumental  in  their  salvation.  One  of  these  was  the  essential 
Divinity  of  Christ,  which  lies  at  the  foundation  of  the  Christian  religion, 
and  perhaps  there  is  not  a  more  powerful  vindication,  nor  a  more  clear 
and  full  exhibition  of  this  vital  doctrine  to  be  found  in  the  sacred  record 
than  that  which  is  here  set  forth  by  our  Apostle.  But  he  not  only  gives 
the  Divine  character  of  Redemption's  glorious  Author,  but  describes 
the  work  of  Redemption  as  it  flows  from  the  sympathies  of  the  human 
nature  of  Christ,  as  well  as  the  perfections  of  the  Divine  nature.  This 
redemption  as  it  is  received  and  enjoyed  in  the  Church,  consists,  accord- 
ing to  St.  Paul,  in  the  remission  of  sins,  and  reconciliation  to  God.  But 
this  regards  its  application.  Its  procuring  cause  is  the  blood  of  Christ; 
its  efficient  cause  is  the  Holy  Spirit,  called  here  the  work  of  the  Father,  be- 
cause the  Spirit  of  grace  is  the  Spirit  of  the  Father.  It  is  by  his  agency 
that  the  atonement  is  applied.  And  it  is  by  his  mighty  efficiency  we 
are  "delivered  from  the  power  of  darkness,  and  translated  into  the  king- 
dom of  his  dear  Son,"  and  rendered  "  meet  for  the  inheritance  of  the 
saints  in  light." 

Here  then  is  an  epitome  of  the  whole  gospel.  The  Godhead  of  Christ, 
a  vicarious  atonement,  the  sensible  influences  of  the  Spirit,  and  these 
20 


306  LIFE   OF   REV.   CHARLES   PITMAN,   D.D. 

appropriated  by  a  loving  faith,  and  practically  developed  by  a  perseve- 
ring obedience,  constitute  the  ministry  of  Reconciliation,  of  which  Paul 
was  a  minister,  and  which  office  he  so  magnifies,  as  to  declare  himself 
willing  to  "  labor  and  suffer  reproach,  and  even  to  die  in  the  prosecution 
of  it."  Nor  was  he  influenced  more  by  the  desire  of  applause,  than  the 
fear  of  reproach.  He  was  no  self-seeker  nor  man-pleaser  in  the  things 
pertaining  to  God  and  salvation.  He  knew  the  adaptations  of  the  Chris- 
tian system,  and  he  availed  himself  of  them.  With  the  most  suitable 
instructions,  he  mingled  the  most  solemn  and  unpalatable  warnings. 
Though  Christ  was  the  sum  of  all  his  ministrations,  yet  Calvary's  bless- 
ings were  never  offered,  where  Sinai's  terrors  had  not  prepared  the  way 
for  their  acceptance."  Whom  we  preach,  warning  every  man  and  teach- 
ing every  man  in  all  wisdom,"  &c.,  &c. 

We  have  in  these  words, — First,  the  burden  of  an  evangelical  minis- 
try. "  Whom  we  preach."  The  Apostles  preached  Christ,  and  so  we 
should  preach  Christ. 

1.  In  the  dignity  of  his  person,  as  "  over  all  God  blessed  forever." 

2.  In  the  glory  of  his  character,  as  Mediator  and  Saviour. 

3.  In  the  condescension  of  his  grace.    "  Though  he  was  rich  yet  for  our 
sakes,"  &c.,  &c. 

4.  In  the  wonders  of  his  love.  "  Behold  what  manner  of  love,"  &c.,  &c. 

5.  In  the  efficacy  of  His  death.    "  He  is  able  to  save  to  the  uttermost 
all  that  come''  unto  God  by  Him. 

6.  In  the  prevalence  of  His  intercessions.   "  If  any  man  sin,  we  have 
an  Advocate,"  &c. 

7.  In  the  character  of  a  judge,  whose  decisions  shall  be  in  righteous- 
ness. 

Second — The  best  method  of  rendering  the  preaching  of  Christ  suc- 
cessful:  (1)  Warning  every  man.  In  doing  this,  1.  The  authority  of  the 
Lawgiver  must  be  demonstrated.  2.  The  purity  of  this  law  displayed. 
3.  The  depravity  of  the  heart  portrayed.  4.  The  guilt  of  voluntary 
offences  detected  and  exposed.  5.  And  the  awful  sanctions  of  the  law 
arrested  and  enforced.  To  give  the  greater  effect  to  these  solemn  exhibi- 
tions of  truth,  the  faithful  minister  will  derive  motives  to  repentance  and 
reformation  from  the  character  of  our  probation,  Divine  threatening 
against  sin,  the  near  approach  of  death,  the  solemnities  of  the  judgment, 
and  the  destinies  of  Eternity. 

2.  "  And  teaching  every  man  in  all  wisdom."  In  this  system  of  in- 
struction will  be  included :  1.  The  nature  of  true  repentance.  2.  The 
nature  and  necessity  of  evangelical  faith.  3.  What  is  implied  in  the 
blessings  of  justification,  regeneration  and  entire  sanctification.  4.  The 


SKETCHES   OF  SERMONS.  307 

witness  of  the  Spirit,  direct  and  indirect.  5.  A  faithful  exhibition  of  the 
Scripture  doctrine  of  the  perseverance  of  the  saints. 

3.  "Striving  according  to  his  working,"  &c.  This  clearly  regards  the 
spirit  of  our  ministry.  There  is  not  so  much  difference  between  the 
thoughts  and  arrangements  of  one  man  and  another,  as  in  the  impression 
and  effect.  How  dry,  devoid  of  feeling  and  uninteresting  is  the  one 
case,  how  warm,  touching  and  saving  is  the  other.  In  what  then  does 
this  art  consist?  It  is  to  avoid  a  worldly  spirit,  to  walk  with  God  alone, 
to  keep  conscience  alive  and  awake,  and  to  maintain  a  deep  sense  of  the 
value  of  the  soul.  It  is  to  speak  from  the  heart,  to  speak  experimentally, 
to  speak  under  a  mixture  of  solemnity  and  tender  feelings ;  in  a  word, 
it  is  to  speak  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  sent  down  from  heaven  in  answer  to 
"  strong  crying  and  tears." 

When  such  a  man,  under  such  an  influence,  engages  in  his  work,  he 
enters  his  congregation,  as  Aaron  went  into  the  Tabernacle  to  minister, 
when  the  precious  ointment  had  been  poured  upon  his  head,  and  ran 
down  to  the  skirts  of  his  garments ;  then  it  is  we  think  of  the  language  of 
our  Christian  bard : 

"  When  one  that  holds  communion  with  the  skies, 
Has  filled  his  urn,  where  those  pure  waters  rise, 
And  once  more  mingles  with  us  meaner  things, 
'Tis  e'en  as  if  an  angel  shook  his  wings; 
Immortal  fragrance  fills  the  circuit  wide, 
That  tells  us  whence  his  treasures  are  supplied ; 
So  when  a  ship  well-freighted  with  the  stores, 
The  sun  matures  on  India's  spicy  shores, 
Has  dropped  her  anchor,  and  her  canvass  furled, 
In  some  safe  haven  of  our  western  world, 
'Tvvere  vain  inquiring  to  what  port  she  went, 
The  gale  informs  us,  laden  with  the  scent." 

Third — The  grand  result  at  which  it  aims.  "  That  we  may  present 
every  man  perfect,"  &c. 

1.  That  every  man  may  be  thoroughly  instructed  in  the  mysteries  of 
Christ's  spiritual  kingdom. 

2.  That  we  may  present  every  man  perfect  in  the  day  of  the  Lord 
Jeaus,  not  absolutely  perfect,  nor  in  the  perfection  of  angels,  nor  of 
Adam  in  Paradise,  but  "  perfect  in  Christ  Jesus." 

3.  This  perfection  includes  "  The  crucifixion  of  the  old  man,"  supreme 
love  to  God,  a  maturity  of  all  the  Christian  graces  ;  in  short,  it  is  light 
in  the  understanding,  correctness,  spirituality  in  the  judgment,  acquies- 


308  LIFE  OP   REV.   CHARLES  PITMAN,   D.D. 

cence  in  the  will,  peace  in  the  conscience,  harmony  and  order  in  the 
affections,  and  purity  in  the  life  and  conversation ;  where  all  these 
spiritual  excellencies  meet  and  combine  there  is  doubtless  "  a  meetness 
for  the  inheritance  of  the  saints  in  light,"  and  it  shall  be  the  unspeak- 
able privilege  of  the  faithful  minister,  though  he  may  be  destined  for  a 
while  to  go  forth  laboring,  "  weeping "  and  suffering,  ultimately  to 
"return  again  rejoicing,  bringing  his  sheaves  with  him,"  and  these  seals 
to  his  ministry  shall  constitute  "  his  crown  of  rejoicing  in  the  day  of 
the  Lord  Jesus." 


VI. 

THE  WEEPING  HUSBANDMAN. 

He  that  goeth  forth  and  weepeth,  bearing  precious  seed,  shall  doubtless  come 
again  with  rejoicing,  bringing  his  sheaves  WITH  HIM. — Psalm  126  :  6. 

The  Holy  Scriptures  are  no  less  remarkable  for  their  spirituality  and 
simplicity  than  for  their  majesty  and  sublimity.  They  abound  with 
figures  and  metaphors ;  and  perhaps  this  method  of  conveying  spiritual 
instruction  is  best  adapted  to  our  limited  capacities.  The  inspired  pen- 
men frequently  borrow  their  most  striking  illustrations  from  those  ob- 
jects in  nature  with  which  their  countrymen  are  most  familiar,  and  this 
mode  of  teaching  has  the  sanction  of  the  Great  Teacher  himself.  In 
one  single  chapter  we  find  no  less  than  six  parables,  in  all  of  which  he 
illustrates  the  character  of  the  gospel  dispensation  and  the  operations  of 
divine  grace  upon  the  human  heart. 

And  among  all  his  parables,  perhaps,  none  is  more  replete  with 
spiritual  instruction  than  that  of  the  sower.  The  allusion  to  the  science 
of  agriculture,  is  very  frequent  in  the  sacred  oracles,  and  this  is  the  al- 
lusion in  the  text  before  us.  Whatever  may  be  the  reference  in  the  text 
we  feel  ourselves  perfectly  authorized  to  give  it  a  spiritual  application. 
The  probable  primary  reference  is  to  the  sufferings  and  the  sorrows  of 
the  Israelitish  nation  in  captivity,  and  their  glorious  deliverance,  and 
return  from  it.  In  the  spiritual  use  we  'shall  make  of  it,  our  attention 
will  be  directed,  1st,  to  the  Seed  ;  2d,  the  Sower ;  and  3d,  the  Harvest. 

first.  We  notice  the  resemblance  between  the  science  of  agriculture 
and  the  spiritual  cultivation  of  the  human  heart. 

1.)  The  natural  seed  has  a  principle  or  germ  of  life  in  it ;  so  the  gos- 
pel is  the  "  power  of  God  unto  salvation  ;  "  it  is  the  spirit  of  life  in 
Christ  Jesus,  etc. 


SKETCHES   OF  SERMONS.  309 

2.)  The  ground  must  be  prepared  to  receive  it ;  so  the  fallow-ground 
of  the  heart  must  be  broken  up,  etc. 

3. )  The  natural  seed  must  be  mixed  with  earth  in  order  to  fruitful- 
ness  ;  so  the  gospel  must  be  mixed  with  faith  in  them  that  hear  it,  etc. 

4.)  To  promote  vegetation,  growth  and  maturity,  the  friendly  shower 
and  the  genial  rays  of  the  sun  are  necessary ;  so  in  order  to  spiritual 
growth  and  maturity,  we  need  spiritual  influence,  and  the  genial  rays  of 
the  Sun  of  Righteousness. 

5.)  In  order  to  perfection,  the  seed  and  plants  must  be  guarded  against 
the  ravages  of  devouring  beasts ;  so  holy  vigilance  and  godly  discipline 
are  essential  to  the  preservation  and  maturity  of  grace. 

Second.  The  character  and  qualifications  of  the  gospel  seedmen — 
apply  these  first  to  ministers. 

1.)  He  bears  precious  seed  in  his  heart,  in  his  life,  and  on  his  tongue. 

2.)  His  credentials  are  of  divine  authority,  etc. 

3.)  His  commission  is  universal,  etc. 

4.)  His  ministry  is  divinely  sanctioned,  etc. 

5.)  He  goes  forth — "he  itinerates" — he  runs  to  and  fro,  his  object  is 
to  increase  knowledge. 

6.)  He  goes  forth  weeping,  impressed  with  the  value  of  immortal 
souls,  conscious  of  their  danger  and  intensely  longing  for  their  salva- 
tion. Let  us  apply  this  also  to  pious  parents,  children  and  godly 
neighbors. 

Third.  The  glorious  harvest.  Contrast  the  seed-time  with  the  harvest. 

1.)  We  go  forth  to  labor,  we  return  to  rest,  etc. 

2.)  We  go  forth  weeping,  we  shall  return  rejoicing,  etc. 

3.)  We  go  forth  with  doubts  and  fears,  we  shall  return  with  certainty 
of  having  seals  to  our  ministry,  etc. 

4.)  We  go  scattering  precious  seed ;  we  shall  return  bringing  our 
sheaves  with  us.  Is  not  the  doctrine  of  future  recognition  taught  here? 
"  his  sheaves,"  etc.  And  shall  not  the  faithful  minister  know  they  are  his? 
And  will  they  not  be  his  crown  of  rejoicing  in  the  day  of  the  Lord  Jesus  ? 

Inferences:  1.)  This  life  is  our  seed-time ;  2.)  We  must  sow  in  tears; 
3.)  The  joys  of  harvest  are  certain. 


310  LIFE  OF   REV.   CHARLES  PITMAN,   D.D. 


VII. 

THE  MINISTER'S  COMMAND  AND  DUTY. 

He  hath  sent  me  to  bind  up  the  broken-hearted. — Isaiah  61  :  2d  clause  of  1st  verse. 

That  these  words  primarily  and  specially  refer  to  Christ  in  the  exer- 
cise of  his  personal  ministry  admits  of  no  doubt,  for  he  quotes  them  in 
Luke  4  :  18-19,  and  applies  them  to  himself.  But  that  they  may 
have  a  more  extended  application,  and  belong  to  all  true  ministers 
of  the  New  Covenant  is  equally  clear,  for  of  that  ministry  which  he  es- 
tablished in  the  Christian  Church  he  was  both  the  Author  and  the 
Model.  Among  the  most  striking  characteristics  of  this  ministry  are  its 
purity  and  its  benevolence.  While  it  makes  no  compromise  with  the 
unsanctified  and  unregenerate  dispositions  and  inclinations  of  human 
nature,  it  offers  its  commiserations  to  all  the  exigencies  of  our  suffering 
humanity.  It  has  purity  to  impart  and  blessings  to  bestow.  But  the 
enjoyment  of  these  blessings  depends  upon  the  personal  appropriation  of 
its  precepts  and  purity  to  our  heart  and  life. 

The  message  of  mercy  in  the  text  is  not  to  the  proud,  unbending  and  im- 
penitent sinner,  but  to  the  broken-hearted  and  sorrowful  penitent. 
Between  it  and  the  self-righteous  Pharisee,  and  the  presumptuous 
Antinomian,  there  will  be  interposed  the  barrier  of  a  perpetual  resis- 
tance, but  to  the  heart  of  the  "  weary  and  heavy  laden  "  it  will  find  an 
easy  and  welcome  access.  By  him  that  is  ready  to  perish  it  will  be 
hailed  as  "  good  news  from  a  far  country."  It  is  the  "  wisdom  of  God," 
and  none  but  true  disciples  will  prize  it.  It  is  the  power  of  God,  on 
which  conscious  impotency  will  gladly  repose  itself.  It  is  the  "  right- 
eousness of  faith,"  in  which  alone  the  repentant  sinner  may  find  pardon. 
It  is  the  gospel  of  salvation,  and  like  its  divine  Author,  comes  to  seek 
and  to  save  them  which  were  lost.  The  whole  human  race  is  involved 
in  one  general  curse,  for  which  the  gospel  of  Christ  presents  the  only 
means  for  its  removal  and  for  our  deliverance,  and  it  is  only  in  propor- 
tion as  man  feels  the  need  of  Christ  that  he  will  be  constrained  to  apply 
to  Him  for  salvation  and  deliverance  from  the  powers  and  effects  of  sin. 

We  may  further  remark  that  there  is  not  only  the  stamp  of  a  divine 
original  upon  the  message  of  mercy  itself,  but  those  who  claim  to  be  its 
dispensers  must  be  divinely  commissioned.  No  man  is  at  liberty  to 
select  for  himself  the  office  of  the  ministry  as  a  mere  profession,  or  to 


SKETCHES  OF  SERMONS.  311 

intrude  himself  into  the  priest's  office  for  a  living.  Nothing  short  of  a 
divine  authority  can  warrant  the  assumption  of  this  holy  office.  "  He 
hath  sent  me  to  bind  up  the  broken-hearted." 

In  the  discussion  of  this  subject,  two  distinct  propositions  claim  out 
attention,  and  let  us  contemplate : 

I.  THE  TRUE  AND  LEGITIMATE  SOURCE  OF  MINISTERIAL  CALLING  : 

1.  Ministers  may  not  enter  upon  this  work  on  their  own  responsibility.     A 
thus  saith  the  Lord,  is  necessary  to  every  man  that  takes  upon  him  the 
solemn  office  and  work  of  the  ministry,  etc. 

2.  They  must  not  be  influenced  by  the  hope  of  ease,  honor  or  pecuniary 
reward,  "not  for  filthy  lucre  but  of  a  ready  mind." 

3.  God  claims  the  right  to  select  His  own  instruments ;  it  was  so  under 
the  law,  and  in  the  organization  of  the  Christian  Church.   That  preroga- 
tive has  never  been  delegated  to  others.     It  must  therefore  remain  with 
Him  in  whom  it  is  inherent. 

4.  Every  individual  called  of  God  to  this  work  will  find  the  following 
facts  to  exist  in  his  experience :  (a)  an  ardent  desire  to  promote  the  glory 
of  God  and  the  salvation  of  souls  ;  (6)  a  deep  and  abiding  conviction  that 
he  is  thus  called;  (c)  increasing  comfort  and  satisfaction  of  heart  in  yield- 
ing to  his  impressions,  and  great  distress  in  resisting  them  ;  (d)  the  con- 
currence and  encouragement  of  the  Church;  (e)  some  liberty  and  success  in 
his  efforts. 

We  claim  that  every  true  minister  must  be  divinely  called  and  sent,  or  in 
other  words,  commissioned  of  God,  etc. 

He  must  look  for  his  authority  above  Councils,  Presbyteries,  Confer- 
ences, and  even  honors  of  Episcopal  prerogative. 

His  lips  must  be  touched  with  the  living  coal,  etc.  "  The  Spirit  of  the 
Lord  God  must  be  upon  him."  Let  not  the  church  in  her  refinements 
and  improvements-  take  this  work  out  of  the  hands  of  Christ.  Let  us 
consent  to  no  policy  which  will  destroy  or  in  any  sense  weaken  this 
vital  principle.  Let  us  do  nothing,  consent  to  nothing,  that  would  make 
the  Christian  ministry  a  thing  to  be  bought  and  sold.  If  we  do,  the 
strength  and  beauty  of  our  Zion  will  depart.  The  angel  of  Truth  will 
proclaim,  f alien  f  fallen  f  fa  lien!  Ichabod  will  be  written  on  our  walls, 
and  our  true  glory  departed  forever. 

And  what  a  source  of  comfort  is  here.  "  God  hath  sent  me."  I  am  an 
ambassador  for  God ;  I  am  engaged  in  his  work.  He  will  therefore  sus- 
tain me ;  I  shall  not  labor  in  vain.  O,  for  a  ministry  like  this,  divinely 
instituted,  shielded  and  sanctioned.  May  it  be  preserved  to  us  in  per- 
petuity, etc.  But  we  pass  now  to  notice, 


312  LIFE  OF   EEV.   CHARLES   PITMAN,   D.D. 

II.  THE  INTERESTING  WORK  TO  WHICH  SUCH  A  MINISTRY  is  CALLED  : 

"  To  bind  up  the  broken-hearted" 

1st,  There  is  a  broken-heartedness  produced  by  the  convicting  influences 
of  the  divine  Spirit.  Man  is  naturally  hard,  insensible,  unfeeling.  Mercies 
are  slighted,  judgments  despised.  Talk  to  him  about  God,  his  soul,  heaven, 
hell.  Repeat  to  him  the  story  of  the  cross,  and  he  turns  away  with  indif- 
ference, perhaps  with  disgust.  But  suppose  him  under  the  influence  of 
conviction  ;  how  changed  his  feelings.  What  fear,  sorrow  and  distress. 
Listen  to  his  language,  "  O  wretched  man,"  etc.  Tell  me  not  of  the 
wormwood  and  the  gall  of  a  heart  literally  pierced.  There  is  no  bitter- 
ness, no  agony  like  this. 

"  But  He  hath  sent  me  to  bind  up  " — heal,  etc. 

1.  By  exhibiting  thefreeness  and  fulness  of  the  Atonement ;  the  heart's 
relief  from  sorrow ;  the  balm  of  Gilead  to  bind  up  the  broken  heart. 

2.  By  a  full  and  affectionate  presentation  of  the  promises  of  the  gospel, 
and  O  how  many  and  multiplied  they  are. 

3.  By  referring  to  scriptural  examples  of  divine  mercy,  taking  care  to 
present,  in  connection,  the  proper  guard  against  presumption  and  despair 
by  holding  up  Christ.     But 

2d.  There  is  a  broken-heartedness  which  is  the  result  of  increased  light, 
a  clear  view  of  the  bitter  fountain  of  depravity,  a  deep  and  painful  sense 
of  the  existence  of  unsanctified  feeling,  and  those  inbred  corruptions  de- 
nominated by  the  apostle  as  the  roots  of  bitterness.  And  who  among  us 
has  not  felt  them?  Who  has  not  often  exclaimed  "  Prone  to  wander?" 
etc.  Take  away  this  bent  to  sinning.  Who  has  not  mourned  over  his 
errors  ?  "  Bind  up,"  etc., 

1.  By  making  known  the  all-sufficiency  of  the  Atonement.    Its  extent  not 
only  to  guilt,  but  pollution.  "It  is  the  will  of  God,  even  your  sanctifica- 
tion."     "  The  blood  of  Jesus  Christ,"  etc.     "  The  God  of  all  grace,"  etc. 

2.  By  making  known  the  simplicity  and  power  of  saving  faith  as  the 
only  condition  of  salvation. 

3.  By  insisting  on  it  as  the  privilege  of  all  Christians,  and  to  be  exer- 
cised and  enjoyed  now.    But 

3d.  There  is  a  broken-heartedness  produced  by  the  sufferings  and  afflic- 
tions of  life. 

Human  life  is  a  chequered  scene  at  best.  It  is  a  picture  of  dark  and 
gloomy  shades.  There  are  times  when  the  heart  must  be  left  alone, 
when  even  friendship's  softest  sympathies  can  be  scarcely  said  to  alleviate. 
"Bind  up,"  etc., 

1.  By  the  assurances  of  divine  help,  protection  and  the  abiding  presence 
of  God. 


SKETCHES   OF  SERMONS.  313 

2.  By  the  doctrine  of  a  special  providence.   In  the  Divine  Administration 
there  is  no  such  thing  as  chance,  no  casualties.     "  Afflictions  spring  not 
from  the  dust." 

"  The  very  hairs  of  your  head  are  all  numbered."  "  Consider  the  lilies 
of  the  field,"  etc. 

3.  By  insisting,  that  the  various  occurrences  of  life  are  not  accidental  or 
detached  events,  but  parts  of  a  general  plan,  of  a  great  whole. 

4.  By  urging  the  fact  that  even  the  afflictions  of  life  are  necessary  means 
for  the  improvement  of  the  saints  in  virtue  and  grace. 

Man  was  made  for  suffering  as  well  as  for  action.  It  is  his  to  struggle 
with  difficulties,  to  brave  the  tempest,  to  endure  the  pain. 

And  thus  by  magnanimity,  heroism  and  patience  he  reaches  the  goal  and 
receives  the  crown.  "  If  we  suffer  with  him  we  shall  also  reign  with  him." 

5.  By  the  blessed  assurance  that  "  our  light  afflictions,  which  are  but 
for  a  moment,"  etc. 

We  close  with  a  few  inferences : 

I.  How  awful  the  responsibilities  which  are  attached  to  the  sacred  office. 
Even  though  we  rejoice  in  its  beneficence,  we  have  occasion  to  do  it,  with 
fear  and  trembling. 

II.  How  elevated  and  ennobling  the  employment  of  a  Christian  minister. 
Saving  souls,  building  up  waste  places,  searching  out  the  poor,  the  halt, 
the  lame,  the  blind,  and  pointing   the  wayfaring  man   to  Jesus  the 
Saviour. 

III.  How  wisely  adapted  is  this  ministry  to  the  wants  and  exigencies  of 
our  fallen  and  suffering  humanity  everywhere.     Preaching  is  a  religious 
ordinance,  a  divinely  instituted  means  of  grace.     "  Preach  the  word," 
etc.,  says  the  Apostle,  and  in  another  place  he  says,  "  We  preach  not  our- 
selves/' etc.     O  the  sin  of  preaching  ourselves.     The  essay  sermon,  the 
fugitive  sermon,  the  quaint  subject,  are  not  what  the  people  want.    The 
multitude  are  famishing  for  the  bread  of  life,  while  the  pulpit  teems  with 
the  chaff  of  a  popular  gospel,  and  souls  are  going  down  to  ruin  amid  the 
splendors  of  the  intellectualism  that  is  the  boasted  sentiment  of  this  day. 
God  and  Christ  are  not  held  up  before  the  people  in  their  true  light,  and 
if  alluded  to,  it  is  by  way  of  comparison  to  some  new  discovery  which 
comes  abreast  with  the  advance  interests  which  are  developed  in  the 
march  of  the  ages.     O  for  a  Heaven-instituted  ministry,  a  God-called 
ministry.     0  fof  a  ministry  that  feel  the  burden  and  care  of  souls.    Men 
of  God  !     Women  of  God !    Pray  for  this  !  plead  for  this !  demand  this  I 
A  ministry  that  separates  itself  from  all  secular  pursuits,  from  all  the 
speculations  of  the  day,  whether  under  the  covert  of  religion  or  other- 
wise.   This  is  your  right ;  remove  the  candlestick  that  has  no  light  and 


314  LIFE   OF   REV.   CHARLES   PITMAN,   D.D. 

no  candle  to  be  lighted.  0  for  a  revival  of  evangelical  piety  !  A  renewal 
of  the  fire  that  touched  prophets'  lips  and  caused  them  to  utter  words 
that  sunk  deep  into  men's  souls,  etc. 


VIII. 

MISSIONARY   SERMON. 

The  field  is  the  world  ;  the  good  seed  are  the  children  of  the  kingdom ;  but  the 
tares  are  the  children  of  the  wicked  ONE. — Matt.  13  :  38. 

The  ministry  of  the  blessed  Redeemer  was  characterized  by  spirituality 
and  simplicity.  And  both  of  these  are  essential  qualifications  to  an 
evangelical  ministry.  Indeed,  the  former  always  implies  the  latter. 
Where  there  is  most  of  spirituality,  there  is  always  least  of  meretricious 
ornament  and  philosophical  subtilty.  External  splendor  and  ceremonial 
pomp  illy  comport  with  a  single  eye  and  purity  of  purpose.  Hence  our 
Lord,  in  explaining  the  mysteries  of  his  spiritual  kingdom,  borrows 
his  most  striking  illustrations  from  those  objects  in  nature  with  which 
his  hearers  were  most  familiar. 

In  the  chapter  we  find  no  less  than  six  parables,  all  of  which  are  illus- 
trative of  the  character  of  the  Christian  dispensation,  and  of  the  oper- 
ation of  divine  grace  in  the  human  heart.  Our  text  is  a  part  of  the 
explanation  and  application  of  the  parable  of  the  wheat  and  tares. 
"  The  field  is  the  world."  From  which  we  gather  that,  unlike  the  Jew- 
ish, the  Christian  religion  was  designed  to  be  universal.  It  is  at  war 
with  a  spirit  of  selfish  exclusiveness,  whether  it  be  found  in  the  unwar- 
rantable assumption  of  prelatical  successionists,  or  in  the  revolting  dog- 
mas of  unconditional  predestination. 

So  expansive  is  its  benevolence  that  it  can  only  be  bounded  by  the 
miseries  of  a  degenerate  world,  and  so  strong  its  sympathies  that  it  ac- 
knowledges no  insurmountable  obstacles,  save  the  obstinacy  of  the  hu- 
man will. 

Such  is  the  character  of  the  Christian  system.  The  world  is  the 
sphere  of  its  operation.  Our  subject  is  appropriate  to  the  present  occa- 
sion, and  in  pursuance  of  its  high  and  holy  import,  we  shall  endeavor 
to  sustain  and  urge  the  claims  of  the  missionary  cause."  In  doing  this 
we  shall  adopt  the  observational  mode  of  discussion,  and 

First,  The  field  for  missionary  effort  is  large  and  extensive. 

1.  It  can  be  limited  only  by  the  extent  of  sin  and  misery. 

2.  It  is  co-extensive  with  the  merits  and  efficacy  of  the  atonement. 


SKETCHES   OF  SERMONS.  315 

3.  It  must  be  measured  by  the  far-reaching  authority  of  the  original 
commission.     "Go  ye  into  all  the  world,"  etc. 
Second,  The  field  to  an  alarming  extent  remains  uncultivated. 

1.  A  large  portion  of  it  is  in  a  state  of  utter  spiritual  destitution,  etc. 

2.  Even  in  those  portions  of  it  where  cultivation  has  commenced  the 
instrumentalities  and  efforts  of  the  Church  bear  scarcely  any  adequate 
proportion  to  the  demand  for  laborers,  etc. 

Third,  It  is  a  field,  the  cultivation  of  which  must  necessarily  call  for 
a  large  amount  of  labor,  sacrifice  and  pecuniary  means,  etc. 

1.  The  missionary  himself  must  be  unwearied  in  his  labors  and  toils, 
etc. 

2.  He  must~be  pre-eminently  a  man  of  self-denial  and  sacrifice,  etc. 

3.  The  Church  must  look  upon  her  missionaries  as  her  "Messengers,*' 
and  furnish  the  means  necessary  to  sustain  them,  etc. 

Fourth,  The  field  is  one  in  the  cultivation  of  which  great  difficulties 
are  presented : 

1.  In  the  obstacles  to  be  removed,  such  as  ignorance,  idolatries  and 
superstitious  rites  and  the  most  degrading  sensual  habits. 

2.  In  the  slowness  of  vegetation,  arising  mainly  out  of  the  unfriend- 
liness of  the  soil. 

3.  In  the  exposure  of  the  crops.    This  is  particularly  great  in  all 
heathen  countries. 

Fifth,  It  is,  nevertheless,  a  field  of  great  promise. 

1.  The  certainty  of  ultimate  success  is  based  upon  the  sure  word  of 
prophecy,  and  the  unfailing  promises  of  God,  etc. 

2.  The  successful  results  of  past  efforts  furnish  the  strongest  guarantee 
of  future  prosperity. 

3.  Remarkable  providential  interpositions  in  favor  of  missionary  en- 
terprise, are  highly  encouraging  indications  of  success,  and  they  should 
serve  to  nerve  the  heart  and  animate  the  hopes  of  the  Church  in  this 
glorious  work. 


IX. 

MACEDONIAN    CALL — MISSIONARY  SERMON. 

And  a  vinion  appeared  to  Paul  in  the  night;  there  stood  a' man  of  Mace- 
donia, and  prayed  him,  saying,  Come  over  into  Macedonia,  and  help  us. — Acts 
16:9. 

"  It  is  not  in  man  to  direct  his  steps."  "  The  steps  of  a  good  man 
are  ordered  by  the  Lord."  This  sentimen  t  is  the  language  of  Inspira- 


316  LIFE   OF   REV.    CHARLES   PITMAN,    D.D. 

tion^and  is  confirmed  by  universal  experience.  And  it  is  one  which 
should  be  embalmed  in  the  memory  and  affections  of  every  Christian. 
It  should  guide  him  in  all  his  pursuits,  regulate  him  in  his  business, 
and  exert  upon  him  a  salutary  restraint  in  the  exercise  of  his  judgment, 
and  of  his  passions. 

Man  is  a  creature  of  extremes,  and  is  always  in  danger  of  running 
into  enthusiasm  or  infidelity,  of  believing  either  too  little  or  too  much. 
The  age  in  which  we  live  presents  a  fearful  exhibition  of  both  of  these 
extremes.  And  perhaps  this  is  not  to  be  wondered  at,  for  the  one  nat- 
urally engenders  the  other.  The  enthusiast  substitutes  visions,  impulses 
and  doubtful  traditions  for  "  the  sure  word  of  prophecy."  To  avoid 
these  fanatical  vagaries  the  infidel  discards  religion  "  as  a  cunningly 
devised  fable,"  and  plunges  into  a  cold  and  heart-searing  liberalism. 
What  cannot  be  interpreted  by  the  dim  flicker  of  human  reason,  he 
unceremoniously  rejects.  While  the  true  Christian,  anxious  to  avoid 
both  these  extremes,  says :  "  I  will  hear  what  God  the  Lord  will 
speak ! " 

Thus  acted  the  great  apostle  to  the  Gentiles.  He  had,  as  we  learn 
from  the  context,  formed  the  purpose  of  going  into  Proconsular  Asia, 
"  but  the  Spirit  suffered  him  not."  In  a  vision  of  the  night  he  was 
directed  to  go  to  Macedonia.  These  are  certainly  remarkable  facts. 
But  why  is  Paul  thus  arrested  and  diverted  from  his  purpose  ?  Two 
solutions  have  been  proposed  to  this  question.  One  is  that  the  people 
to  whom  he  had  purposed  to  preach  the  gospel  were  not  as  yet  ripe  for 
it.  The  other  is  that  he  might  go  into  Europe.  And  it  cannot  be 
questioned  that  he  was  the  very  man  to  gage  and  grapple  with  the 
European  mind  of  his  times.  This  was  a  valid  reason  for  keeping  him 
out  of  Asia.  It  does  not  follow,  however,  that  he  was  given  to  Europe 
at  the  expense  of  Asia.  It  is  extremely  probable  that  Asia  had,  at  that 
time,  the  services  of  some  of  the  other  apostles.  For  if  they  were  not  in 
Asia,  where  were  they  ?  We  can  in  no  other  way  account  for  one  half 
of  the  apostles'  staff  at  that  time.  They  were  not  dead.  We  cannot 
trace  them  in  the  spheres  of  Paul,  Peter  or  John.  We  cannot  believe 
that  they  were  idle,  or  less  faithful  to  their  commission  than  their 
brethren.  Instead,  then,  of  attributing  this  sudden  arrest  to  a  myste- 
rious sovereignty,  is  it  not  more  natural  and  pious  to  suppose  that  those 
apostles  whom  we  cannot  trace  in  the  wide  circle  of  what  we  call  Apos- 
tolic Churches  were  in  the  spheres  beyond  it,  and  occupying  this  very 
field  ?  Be  this  as  it  may,  our  text  teaches  us, — 

First,  That  the  circumstances  and  condition  of  the  heathen  world  im- 
peratively demand  help. 


SKETCHES  OF  SERMONS.  317 

1.  They  are  grossly  ignorant  and  need  to  be  enlightened.    To  turn 
them  from  darkness,  etc. 

2.  They  are  idolatrous  and  superstitious,  and  need  to  be  turned  from 
"  dumb  idols  to  serve,"  etc. 

3.  They  are  barbarous,  and  their  very  habitations  are  those  of  cru- 
elty.   And  nothing  can  tame  their  savage  ferocity  but  the  mild  and 
peace-giving  gospel  of  Christ. 

Secondly,  Their  necessities,  in  many  instances,  are  apparent  to  them- 
selves, and  deeply  and  painfully  felt.    They  desire  and  call  for  help. 

1.  This  Macedonian  cry  is  heard  from  many  of  the  tribes  of  Northern 
and  Southern  India,  the  isles  of  the  sea,  and  even  from  the  Celestial 
empire  itself. 

2.  This  is  also  true  of  the  most  of  the  tribes  of  Indians  on  our  frontiers, 
and  of  several  others  beyond  the  Rocky  Mountains. 

3.  It  is  emphatically  the  case  with  whole  tribes  of  the  nations,  both 
of  Southern  and  Western  Africa. 

Thirdly,  The  Christian  Church  is  under  the  strongest  obligations  to 
afford  the  help  required. 

1.  These  obligations  are  imposed  upon  her  by  the  original  commis- 
sion, "  Go  ye  into  all  the  world,"  etc. 

2.  They  are  confirmed  and  urged  by  the  adaptations  of  the  gospel. 

3.  They  are  of  the  very  nature  and  genius  of  our  holy  religion. 

4.  Gratitude  to  God  for  our  personal  advantage  urges  these  obliga- 
tions upon  us. 


X. 

THE  NATURE  AND  EFFECT8  OF  SPIRITUAL    COMMUNICATIONS    AS    PE- 
CULIAR  TO  THE  GOSPEL  DISPENSATION. 

For  I  will  pour  water  upon  him  that  is  thirsty,  and  floods  upon  the  dry  ground  : 
I  will  pour  my  Spirit  upon  thy  seed,  and  my  blessing  upon  thine  offspring :  And 
they  shall  spring  ftp  AS  among  the  grass,  as  willows  by  the  water  courses.  One 
shall  say,  /AM  the  LORD'S  ;  and  another  shall  call  HIMSELF  by  the  name  of  Ja- 
cob ;  and  another  shall  subscribe  WITH  his  hand  unto  the  LORD,  and  surname 
HIMSELF  by  the  name  of  Israel. — Isa.  44 :  8-5. 

The  author  of  these  words  is  not  infrequently,  nor  improperly  called  by 
ministers  and  expositors  of  divine  truth,  for  the  sake  of  distinction, 
the  Evangelical  Prophet.  This  appellation  has  been  given  him  on  ac- 
count of  his  clear  conceptions  and  striking  illustrations  of  evangelical 
subjects,  such  as  the  "Saviour's  incarnation,"  the  "  promulgation  of  the 


318  LIFE  OF   REV.   CHARLES   PITMAN,   D.D. 

s 

gospel,"  the  "  pouring  out  of  the  Holy  Spirit,"  the  "  calling  of  the  Gen- 
tiles," and  the  "  general  establishment  of  Christ's  kingdom  among 
men." 

He  has  also  been  called  the  Demosthenes  of  the  Hebrews.  The  reason  why 
this  name  has  been  applied  to  him,  may  be  found  in  his  superior  elo- 
quence, the  sublimity  of  his  sentiments,  his  florid  and  lofty  style  of 
speech,  his  glowing  imagery,  his  splendid  diction,  his  bold  and  graphic 
delineation  of  sublime  events,  his  minute  descriptions  of  the  picturesque 
and  beautiful  and  the  importance  of  the  station  he  occupies  in  the 
church. 

This  connection  of  interesting  matter,  with  beautiful  illustrations,  which 
characterizes  the  whole  prophecy,  is  particularly  observable  in  the  text. 
The  holy  prophet,  in  his  contemplations  upon  gospel  times,  kindles  into 
a  holy  rapture  himself,  and  in  his  prophetic  descriptions,  he  cannot  fail 
to  enrapture  the  evangelical  believer. 

In  these  words,  he  makes  an  exhibit  of  that  rich  cluster  of  evangelical 
blessings,  which  shall  mark  the  latter  day  glory.  The  diffusion  and 
profusion  of  spiritual  communications,  with  their  excellency  and  extent, 
as  they  are  received  and  enjoyed  by  the  Christian  church  are  clearly  ex- 
pressed, and  happily  illustrated.  The  figures  employed  are  highly  sig- 
nificant, wisely  selected  and  well  applied. 

But  that  this  subject  may  be  interesting,  instructive  and  edifying  we  must 
be  more  particular  in  its  discussion.     We  shall  therefore  notice  : 

I.  THE  SPIRITUAL  COMMUNICATIONS  HERE  PROMISED  : 

(1)  They  are  suitable,  adapted  to  our  wants  and  necessities,  as  water  to 
the  thirsty,  or  floods  upon  the  dry  ground,  copious  and  abundant,  satisfy- 
ing. 

(2)  They  are  plentiful  and  exhaustless.     This  is  also  implied  in  this 
figurative  representation — "  waters  poured  upon  the  thirsty,  and  floods 
upon  dry  ground." 

(3)  They  are  diffusive  and  extensive,  embracing  1.  Those  to  whom  the 
promise  was  first  made  (Jews).    2.  Their  children,  whether  Jew  or  Gen- 
tile, Barbarian  or  Scythian,  bond  or  free,  etc.     3.  Those  who  are  afar 
off,  as  many  as  the  Lord  our  God  shall  call. 

They  shall  be  universal,  etc. 

II.  THE  EFFECTS  THAT  THESE  GIFTS  OF  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT  ARE 
DESIGNED  TO  PRODUCE  : 

(1)  A  high  state  of  spiritual  prosperity.      1.  The  fruit  shall  spring  up 


SKETCHES   OF   SERMOXS.  319 

suddenly  and  immediately.     2.  It  shall  grow  rapidly  and  largely.    3.  The 
character  of  the  fruit  shall  proclaim  the  spirituality  of  its  origin. 

(2)  A  practical  acknowledgement  of  the  blessed  effects  of  true  divine  com- 
munications.     1.  One  shall  say  I  am  the  Lord's.    His  property,  etc.     2. 
Another  shall  call  himself  by  the  name  of  Jacob.  This  acknowledgement 
is  still  stronger,  and  implies  an  association  with  the  people  of  God. 

(3)  And  another  shall  subscribe  with  his  hand  unto  the  Lord  and  surname 
himself  by  the  name  of  Israel.  The  first  item  of  mention  in  this  acknowl- 
edgement may  refer  to  the  signing  of  a  bond,  or  certifying  by  an  oath, 
fealty  and  allegiance,  to  an  interest,  or  truth,  or  doctrine,  in  which  obli- 
gations are  imposed  and  privileges  are  secured. 

The  second  item  refers  to  a  custom  which  prevailed  in  the  east,  of  giv- 
ing a  surname  to  persons  under  extraordinary  circumstances, — or  to 
another  in  which  was  inscribed  upon  the  right  hand  of  the  servant,  the 
name  of  his  master,  of  the  soldier,  the  name  of  the  captain,  etc.  Kev. 
"  new  name,"  3 :  12. 

Inferences  : 

(1 )  Let  us  learn  from  this  subject  to  employ  our  thoughts,  etc.  Meditations 
more  frequently  upon  those  truths  which  we  have  heard  from  the  be- 
ginning. 

(2)  This  subject  should  lead  us  to  a  close  examination  with  regard  to  our 
spiritual  experience. 

(3)  This  subject  should  influence  us  to  pray  ardently  for  the  general  dif- 
fusion of  these  spiritual  communications,  and  especially  pray  for  our 
children,  who  are  especially  mentioned  in  the  promise. 


XL 

NATURE  OF  EVANGELICAL  RELIGION. 

Therefore  IT  IS  of  faith,  that  IT  MIGHT  BE  by  grace ;  to  the  end  the  promise 
night  be  sure  to  all  the  seed;  not  to  that  only  which  is  of  the  law,  but  to  that  also 
which  is  of  the  faith  of  Abraham  ;  who  is  the  father  of  us  all. — Rom.  4  :  16. 

The  Church  of  Rome  was  made  up  partly  of  Jewish  and  partly  ot 
Gentile  proselytes;  it  could,  therefore,  hardly  be  supposed,  that  their 
national  predilection  and  educational  biases  would  be  immediately  given 
up.  It  was  owing  to  the  force  of  early  education  and  long  cherished 
prejudices  that  the  Jewish  converts  were  so  unwilling  to  acknowledge 
the  claims  of  the  Gentile  Christians  to  equal  privileges  with  themselves. 


320  LIFE   OF   REV.    CHAr.LES   PITMAN,    D.D. 

Before  they  would  admit  their  claims  of  equality,  they  insisted  these 
Gentile  converts  must  submit  to  the  rite  of  circumcism. 

The  object  of  the  apostle  in  this  epistle  was  to  adjust  and  settle  these 
disputes.  His  argument  goes  at  once  to  settle  these  claims,  and  to  place 
the  Gentile  convert  in  respect  of  his  religious  condition  and  spiritual 
rank  upon  a  parity  with  the  believing  Jew.  The  apostle  sustains  this 
position  by  a  variety  of  arguments,  such  as,  First,  That  no  man  of 
either  description  was  justified  by  works,  for  the  obvious  reason  that  no 
man,  either  Jew  or  Gentile,  had  been  able  to  perform  good  works. 
Secondly,  That  it  became  necessary  to  appoint  another  medium  or  con- 
dition of  justification  in  which  the  Jewish  peculiarity  was  merged  and 
lost.  He  shows  clearly  that  Abraham's  justification  was  antecedent  to 
the  law  and  independent  of  it,  that,  according  to  the  Scripture  account, 
Abraham  was  justified  by  faith,  and  he  proceeds  to  explain  the  nature 
of  that  justification  by  a  quotation  from  the  Psalms,  see  verse  6. 
Thirdly,  That  the  believing  Gentiles  are  the  seed  to  whom  the  promise 
belongs,  as  well  as  the  believing  Jews,  see  verses  12-17,  and  he  described 
Abraham's  faith  as  illustrative  of  the  faith  of  the  gospel. 

The  great  doctrine  of  justification  by  faith  as  explained  in  this  chap- 
ter, and  referred  to  in  the  text,  is  considered  by  all  evangelical  Chris- 
tians as  vitally  important  to  the  interest  of  the  Church,  as  it  is  to  the 
salvation  of  the  soul.  It  is  intimately  connected  with  every  other  doc- 
trine of  the  Gospel.  Nor  will  the  others  be  understood,  or  even 
relished  by  believers,  if  this  be  not  known.  What  is  its  nature  ?  How 
is  it  obtained  ?  and  is  it  attainable  by  all  ?  are  questions  of  the  deepest 
interest  to  every  human  being.  We  propose  to  notice  these  three  ques- 
tions in  their  order,  and 

First.  Its  nature.     We  may  remark 

1.  That  the  justification  referred  to  in   our  text,  is  not  that  which 
comes  upon  infants  through  the  mediation  of  Christ,  according  to  Rom. 
5:  14. 

2.  Neither  is  it  that  justification  which  shall  take  place  at  the  day  of 
judgment,  see  verses  13-16 ;  see  al?o  Matt.  12 :  37.    This  will  be  accord- 
ing to  our  works,  not  by  the  merit  of  works.    See  chap.  6 :  23,  but  by 
the  evidences  of  work.     See  Rev.  20  :  12-22. 

3.  Nor  is  it  the  being  acquitted  of  all  censure,  or  not  being  reprehen- 
sible   for    our    conduct,   or  our    being  declared    innocent,   according 
to  the  sense  in  which  the  term  is  used  in  courts  of  law  (see  Psa.  143 : 
2  ;  Rom.  3  :  20).     It  is  not  the  being  made  holy  or  innocent,  or  person- 
ally righteous,  which  would  confound  it  with  regeneration  and  sanctifi- 
cation,  but  it  is  the  forgiveness  of  Bin,  the  reversal  of  the  sentence  of 


SKETCHES   OF  SERMONS.  321 

condemnation,  the  non -imputation  of  sin,  and  our  obligation  to  punish- 
ment canceled,  and  all  this  by  the  judicial  act  of  God  upon  our  exercis- 
ing faith  in  Christ  (see  vs.  3,  4,  5). 

This  blessing  is  distinct  from  regeneration  and  adoption,  it  being  sim- 
ply an  acquittal  from  actual  guilt,  whereas  regeneration  is  the  renewal 
of  our  natures  in  righteousness,  and  by  adoption  we  are  admitted  into 
the  family  of  God.  But  although  these  blessings  are  distinct  in  their 
nature,  and  therefore  not  to  be  confounded  the  one  with  the  other,  yet 
they  do  not  exist  separately,  and  it  is  impossible  to  have  the  one  without 
having  all  the  others,  at  least  in  a  degree,  for  regeneration  and  adoption 
are  the  concomitants  of  justification,  and  are  always  received  with  it,  so 
then  no  man  is  justified  without  being  regenerated  and  adopted,  and  no 
man  is  regenerated  and  made  a  son  who  is  not  justified.  In  their  nature 
they  are  perfectly  distinct,  but  as  to  the  time  of  their  reception  they  are 
inseparably  connected.  We  proceed  to  show, 

Secondly,  How  this  blessing  is  obtained.  "  It  is  by  faith,  that  it 
might  be  of  grace.1'  But  here  it  may  be  proper  to  notice  the  particular 
sense  in  which  it  may  be  said  that  justification  is  by  faith.  We  remark, 

1.  That  faith  is  not  the  moving  cause  of  justification.    This  is  to  be 
found  only  in  the  promptings  of  infinite  love.     Hence  we  are  said  to  be 
justified  by  grace. 

2.  It  is  not  the  meritorious  cause.     This  is  to  be  found  only  in  the 
atonement  of  Christ  (see  chap.  3:  24,  25;  Isa.  53 :  11 ;  2  Cor.  5:  14-21). 
Hence  we  are  said  to  be  by  Christ  brought  nigh  (Gal.  2  :  13-22). 

3.  It  is  not  the  efficient  cause,  for  this  is  to  be  traced  alone  to  the 
divine  influence.    To  prepare  the  way  for  the  reception  of  this  blessing 
and  to  furnish  the  satisfactory  evidence  of  its  possession  are  exclusively 
the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

4.  Nor  is  it,  except  in  a  qualified  sense,  the  instrumental  cause.     The 
instrumentality  employed  on  the  part  of  God  is  His  own   word  and 
truth,  its  declarations  and  its  promises  concerning  this  blessing.    It  is, 
however,  the  instrumental  cause  on  our  part,  the  sole  condition  on  which 
the  blessing  of  justification  is  promised,  that  principle  on  which  is  dis- 
claimed all  pretensions  to  human  merit,  it  resting  exclusively  on  the 
worthiness  and  merit  of  Christ.     On  this  account  it  is  reckoned  unto  us 
for  righteousness,  because  it  relies  for  salvation  only  upon  the  atoning 
righteousness  of  Christ. 

It  is  not,  then,  by  the  imputation  of  Christ's  personal  righteousness  to 
the  sinner  that  he  is  justified,  for  (1)  no  such  office  is  ever  ascribed  in 
the  Scriptures  to  the  active  righteousness  of  Christ,  and  (2)  such  impu- 
tation would  render  his  Bufferings  superfluous  and  unnecessary,  and  (3) 
21 


322  LIFE   OP   REV.    CHARLES   PITMAN,   D.D. 

it  is  opposed  to  the  ends  of  moral  government,  and  shuts  out  the  obliga- 
tion of  personal  obedience  to  the  law  of  God,  and  (4)  it  makes  the  justi- 
fication of  men  a  matter  of  right  and  not  of  grace. 

The  only  legitimate  conclusion,  therefore,  at  which  we  can  arrive  is  that 
which  we  find  in  the  text  and  context,  viz.,  that  faith  itself  is  computed 
or  reckoned  to  us  for  righteousness. 

But  what  is  the  nature  of  that  faith  by  which  we  are  justified  ?  We 
have  the  pattern  of  this  faith  in  Abraham,  the  father  of  the  faithful,  as 
furnished  by  the  apostle  in  the  chapter  before  us.  Faith  is  here  pre- 
sented to  us  as  combining  the  assent  of  the  understanding  with  the  cur- 
rent of  the  will  and  the  trust  of  the  heart.  The  former  may  exist 
without  the  latter,  but  the  latter  cannot  exist  without  the  former. 
Hence  it  appears  that,  though  the  assent  of  the  understanding  is  essen- 
tial to  justifying  faith,  yet  of  itself  this  assent  of  itself  is  insufficient. 
Faith  in  the  sense  of  mere  intellectual  assent  to  truth  is  allowed  to  be 
possessed  by  devils,  and  cannot,  therefore,  be  evangelical.  But  the 
faith  that  justifies  connects  with  a  full  persuasion  of  the  truth  of 
Christianity  an  unhesitating  reliance  on  the  atonement,  with  a  firm  be- 
lief in  the  doctrines  of  the  gospel,  an  actual  trust  in  the  Saviour  and 
personal  apprehension  of  his  merits.  Such  was  the  faith  of  Abraham. 
Being  fully  persuaded  what  God  had  promised,  he  was  able  to  perform. 
He  staggered  not  at  the  promise  through  unbelief,  but  was  strong  in 
faith,  in  hope.  He  believed  in  hope  against  hope,  giving  glory  to  God. 
Thus  nothing  is  required  of  penitent  sinners  but  their  actual  trust  in, 
and  personal  appropriation  of,  the  merits  of  Christ's  death  as  a  sacrifice 
for  sin,  and  upon  thus  believing,  they  are  justified,  and  their  faith  is 
counted  for  righteousness. 

But  to  this  doctrine  of  the  imputation  of  faith  for  righteousness,  it 
will  be  probably  objected  ''  that  faith  is  not  righteousness,"  and,  there- 
fore such  imputation  would  be  false.  In  reply  to  this  objection  it  is 
only  necessary  to  say  that  as  justification  is  simply  pardon  by  a  judicial 
act  of  God,  the  objection  is  without  foundation.  But,  perhaps,  it  will 
be  objected,  that  if  faith  be  put  for  righteousness,  then  justification  is 
by  works.  To  this  objection  our  text  furnishes  the  appropriate  and  suf- 
ficient reply,  "  It  is  by  faith  that  it  might  be  by  grace."  But  it  is  some- 
times said,  *'  that  such  imputation  gives  occasion  for  boasting."  To  this 
we  answer,  "  If  Christ  had  not.  merited,  God  had  not  promised,  then 
justification  had  never  followed  upon  this  faith.  Therefore,  we  are  jus- 
tified not  by  the  merit  of  faith,  but  by  faith  instrumentally  as  the  con- 
dition.  But  we  might  hasten  to  notice,  in  conclusion, 


SKETCHES   OF   SERMONS.  323 

Thirdly,  The  purpose  and  end  for  which  faith  is  the  appointed  condi- 
tion of  justification. 

1.  That  it  might  be  by  grace.    That  grace  might  have  the  honor  of  it, 
by  grace  and  not  by  law,  by  grace  and  not  by  debt,  not  of  merit.     It  is 
in  the  very  nature  of  true  faith  to  exclude  all  notions  of  its  meritorious- 
ness.    It  is  an  unwavering  trust  in  an  atonement  offered  by  another  in 
our  behalf,  by  which  trust  in  something  without  us,  we  acknowledge 
our  own  inefficiency,  guilt  and  unworthiness,  and  directly  ascribe  the 
merit  to  that  which  is  the  object  of  our  trust,  viz.,  the  propitiation  of  the 
blood  of  Christ.     "  Faith,"  says  the  pious  Henry,  "  has  particular  ref- 
erence to  grace-granting,  as  grace  has  reference  to  faith-receiving.     For 
God  will  have  every  crown  thrown  down  at  the  feet  of  grace,  free  grace? 
and  every  song  in  heaven  sung  to  that  tune,  '  not  unto  us,  but  unto  thy 
name  be  the  praise.'  " 

2.  "  That  the  promise  might  be  sure."    The  first  covenant,  being  a 
covenant  of  works,  was  not  sure,  but  through  man's  failure  its  benefits 
were  forfeited  and  cut  off,  and  then  there  was  no  provision  in  that  cove- 
nant for  their  recovery.     But  the  more  effectually  to  ensure  the  convey- 
ances of  the  covenant,  the  blessings  of  the  gospel  are  placed  in  the 
hands  of  Christ,  as  the  Trustee  of  our  salvation,  who  when  drawn  upon 
by  faith,  is  ever  ready  to  make  the  promise   sure.     If  the  promises 
were  based  upon  works,  human  frailty  must  ever  render  them  uncertain. 

3.  "That  the  promise  might  be  sure  to  all  the  seed."    If  it  had 
been  by  the  law,  it  had  been  limited  to  the  Jews,  and  not  even  sure  to 
them,  although  to  them  pertained  the  glory  and  the  covenants  and  the 
giving  of  the  law.     But  it  was  by  faith  that  the  Gentiles,  as  well  as  the 
Jews,  might  be  interested  in  it,  the  spiritual,  as  well  as  the  natural  seed 
of  Abraham.    The  promise  made  to  Abraham's  faith  was  made  while 
he  was  yet  in  uncircumcision,  and  therefore  his  seed  must  comprehend 
all  true  believers  of  all  ages. 

Inferences, — 1.  This  system  humbles  pride  and  dethrones  self;  2.  It 
exalts  grace  and  honors  God ;  3.  It  therefore  bears  the  indelible  stamp 
of  a  divine  origin.  

XII. 

EXPERIMENTAL  AND  PRACTICAL  HOLINESS. 

/  beseech  you  therefore,  brethren,  by  the  mercies  of  God,  that  ye  present  your 
bodies  a  living  sacrifice,  hvly,  acceptable  unto  God,  which  is  your  reasonable  ser- 
vice.— Rom.  12:1. 

The  religion  of  the  gospel  has  not  been  exhibited  to  men  merely  for 
the  sake  of  gratifying  curious  minds  or  speculative  imaginations  ;  but  for 


324  LIFE  OF   REV.    CHARLES  PITMAN,   D.D. 

the  purpose  of  imparting  to  the  mind  of  man  the  knowledge  of  truth,  the 
most  salutary  ;  to  produce  enjoyment  in  the  heart,  the  most  delightful, 
and  to  impress  upon  the  character  and  conduct  a  sanctity  the  most 
rational  and  spiritual.  It  should  therefore  be  considered  and  embraced, 
both  in  its  doctrinal  instructions  and  practical  enforcements.  The  pro- 
fessed design  of  its  doctrines  is  to  inform  men  of  their  guilty,  depraved 
and  helpless  condition,  to  direct  them  to  an  infallible  remedy,  and  to 
point  out  the  means  requisite  to  an  entire  deliverance. 

When  all  these  truths  are  brought  to  bear  upon  the  faculties  and  sen- 
sibilities of  man  according  to  their  design,  they  never  fail  to  furnish  him 
both  with  the  will  and  the  power  to  be  practically  holy.  But  when  the 
doctrines  of  Christianity  are  only  learned  scientifically,  though  they  may 
serve  to  amuse  the  fancy  or  feast  the  intellect,  they  neither  change  the 
heart  nor  better  the  life.  From  this  view  of  thesubject,  it  appears,  that 
to  study  ihe  evangelical  truths  theoretically  is  not  sufficient ;  they  must 
be  realized  in  the  heart  and  developed  in  the  practice.  This  perfectly 
accords  with  the  plans  of  the  Apostle  Paul. 

Having,  in  the  preceding  part  of  this  epistle,  made  an  exhibit  of  the 
fallen,  corrupted,  ruinous  and  helpless  condition  of  both  Jews  and  Gen- 
tiles in  their  natural  state,  and  having  shown  that  neither  the  vain 
philosophy  of  the  latter,  nor  the  violated  law  of  Moses,  so  much  revered 
by  the  former,  could  expiate  their  crimes,  or  screen  them  from  the  indig- 
nation of  heaven,  and  that  no  man  by  mere  human  effort,  could  render 
himself  acceptable  to  God,  or  perform  the  obedience  His  law  requires  ; 
having  stated  the  only  foundation  of  a  sinner's  justification  before  God 
and  illustrated  the  great  doctrine  of  faith,  by  which  the  merit  of  the 
Atonement  is  appropriated,  he  proceeds  to  point  out  and  enforce  that 
holy  obedience  which  is  inseparable  from  the  spiritual  reception  and 
operations  of  these  doctrines. 

So  far  is  he  from  maintaining  that  Christ's  obedience  exonerates  us 
from  keeping  the  law,  that  he  affirms  that  it  is  in  virtue  of  the  Atone- 
ment that  we  are  both  obligated  and  capacitated  to  fulfil  its  requisitions 
under  the  influence  of  those  sentiments.  He  exhorts,  urges  and  entreats 
the  Christians  at  Rome  to  consecrate  themselves  entirely  to  the  service 
of  the  Lord.  "I  beseech  you,  therefore/'  &c. 

In  the  further  elucidation  of  this  subject,  we  shall  notice: 

First — The  comprehensive  duty  which  the  Apostle  inculcates.  "  Pre- 
sent your  bodies,"  &c. 

1.  The  nature  of  the  sacrifice  required  to  be  offered.    All  our  bad  dis- 
positions, criminal  passions,  evil  tempers,  &c. 

2.  All  our  good  things — reputation,  influence,  worldly  genius,  &c. 


SKETCHES   OF   SERMONS.  325 

3.  It  must  be  a  living  sacrifice,  living  faith,  and  living  experience,  and 
a  living  practice  or  example  of  obedience. 

4.  A  holy  sacrifice,  pure  in  its  nature,  with  a  pure  intention  in  its 
offices. 

5.  And  this  will  be  sure  to  render  an  acceptable  sacrifice. 

2.  We  observe  that  such  a  sacrifice  is  essential ;  salvation  is  suspended 
on  it ;  purity  of  heart  and  life  depend  upon  it ;  perfection  in  God's  grace 
and  glory  forever,  is  a  requisite  of  it. 

Second — The  motives  or  arguments  by  which  it  is  enforced. 

1.  It  is  a  reasonable  service.     The  Father  has  given  His  Son,  and  the 
Son  has  giyen  (or  sacrificed)  his  life  for  us,  therefore  we  should  dedicate 
ourselves  wholly,  body  and  soul,  to  his  service. 

2.  Another  motive  here  mentioned,  is  the  mercies  of  God;  these  are 
manifold : 

1.  Temporal  mercies — Food,  raiment,  and  all  the  blessings  of  natural 
life. 

2.  Providential  mercies — Such  as  are  both  general  and  particular. 

3.  Redeeming  mercy — The  being  brought  over  to  a  state  of  probation. 

4.  Awakening  mercy. 

5.  Justifying  mercy. 

6.  Regenerating  mercy. 

7.  Glorifying  mercy. 
Inferences: 

1.  The  religion  of  the  gospel  is  chiefly  experimental  and  practical. 

2.  Those  who  employ  their  reason  against  the  gospel  are  most  un- 
reasonable of  created  beings. 

3.  "  Mercy  has  its  bounds,  and  turns  to  vengeance  there,"  when  its 
limits  are  crossed. 

XIII. 

SALVATION  BY  GRACE  THROUGH  FAITH. 

For  by  grace  are  ye  saved  through  faith ;  and  that  not  of  yourselves :  IT  IS  the 
gift  of  God.  Not  of  works,  lest  any  man  should  boast. — Eph.  2  :  8,  9. 

The  passage  before  us  contains  one  of  the  most  sublime  and  soul- 
entrancing  subjects  with  which  the  ear  of  man  was  ever  saluted  or  his 
heart  interested.  It  is  the  subject  of  Salvation,  the  salvation  of  the  soul, 
the  present  and  eternal  salvation  of  man  from  the  thraldom  of  sin  and 
its  consequences,  and  his  entire  restoration  to  the  favor,  image  and  en- 
joyment of  God.  This  all  comprehensive  subject  is  traced  up  to  its 


326  LIFE  OF  EEV.   CHARLES  PITMAN,   D.D. 

source  connected  with  the  only  instrumentality  by  which  it  may  be  at- 
tained, and  by  which  the  glory  of  God  and  the  happiness  of  man  are 
equally  secured.  But  errors  are  always  dangerous,  just  in  proportion  as 
the  subject  is  important.  And  as  there  is  no  subject  on  which  men  are 
so  liable  to  err  as  this,  the  Apostle  in  presenting  the  true  views  of  the 
Christian  salvation  corrects  those  false  ones  with  which  this  great  ques- 
tion has  been  so  often  perplexed.  He  repudiates  any  and  all  systems 
which  proceed  upon  the  merits  of  human  conduct,  or  which  account 
the  gospel  a  provision  of  simple  opportunity  and  facility  to  man  to  save 
himself,  or  which  vindicate  the  prerequisite  to  an  interest  in  the  gospel 
as  inclusive  of  all  the  moral  virtues,  or  which  vary  the  universal 
freeness  of  the  gospel  by  moral  influences  in  man.  Neither  of  these 
views  can  be  reconciled  with  adequate  impressions  or  a  worthy  inter- 
pretation of  grace.  "  And  that  not  of  yourselves,  it  is  the  gift  of  God." 

In  these  words  we  have,  first,  God's  method  of  saving  sinners,  as- 
serted. 

1.  "  By  grace  are  ye  saved."     Grace  in  the  sense  of  the  text  is  unmer- 
ited kindness,  undeserved  favor.    Salvation  is  by  grace  : 

1)  In  its  origination.  It  is  called  the  grace  of  God,  and  he  is  denom- 
inated the  "  God  of  all  grace,"  because  he  is  its  author.  2)  In  its  actual 
bestowment.  "  He  giveth  grace  and  glory."  Grace  and  truth  come  by 
Jesus  Christ.  3)  In  its  progress  and  continuance.  So  says  the  Apostle 
in  Heb.  12  :  28,  "  Let  us  have  grace  whereby  we  may  serve  God,"  etc., 
and  again  in  Heb.  13  :  9,  "  For  it  is  a  good  thing  that  the  heart  be  estab- 
lished with  grace,"  etc.,  and  again,  1  Peter  1:2,"  Grace  be  unto  you  and 
peace  be  multiplied,"  etc;  again,  2d  Peter  2:  18,  "  But  grow  in  grace  ;" 
again,  Acts  13:  43,  Paul  and  Barnabas  exhorted  their  converts  to  con- 
tinue in  the  grace  of  God ;  and  again,  2d  Cor.  1 :  12,  "  By  the  grace  of 
God  we  have  had  our  conversation  in  the  world."  Paul's  own  experience 
is  directly  to  this  point,  see  1  Cor.  15 :  10,  "  By  the  grace  of  God  I  am 
what  I  am,  yet  not  I  but  the  grace  of  God  which  was  in  me."  4th  and 
lastly)  In  its  final  triumphs  and  glorious  consummation.  "  My  grace  is 
sufficient  for  thee,"  2d  Cor.  12 :  9.  It  is  the  alpha  and  omega  in  the 
system  of  human  salvation.  It  lays  every  stone,  it  brings  forth  the  last 
stone  with  shoutings  of  grace,  grace  unto  it,  Zech.  4:7.  "  Not  unto  us, 
not  unto  us,  but  unto  thy  name,  O  Lord,  be  the  praise." 

2.  "Through  faith."  Not  a  mere  abstract  credence,  or  opinion,  or 
assent,  but  a  principle  in  the  heart.  "  For  with  the  heart  man  believeth 
unto  righteousness."  It  is  a  firm  truth  in  Christ  for  salvation — an  en- 
tire submission  to  his  plan  of  saving  sinners.  The  instrumentality  of 
faith  is  as  necessary  to  salvation  as  the  provision  of  grace.  For 


SKETCHES  OF  SERMONS.  327 

1)  The  Scriptures  positively  require  it  in  order  to  salvation.  Without 
faith  it  is  impossible  to  please  God.  2)  The  bestowment  of  salvation  is 
in  the  Scriptures  inseparably  connected  with  faith.  "  Faith  is  counted 
for  righteousness,"  Rom.  4 :  5 ;  It  is  of  faith  that  "  overcometh  the 
world,"  1  John  5 :  4 ;  "It  is  connected  with  the  purification  of  the 
heart,"  Acts  15:  9,  also  Acts  26:  18;  "It  is  .associated  with  religious 
comfort,"  Eom.  1 :  12 ;  "  Through  faith  we  inherit  the  promises,"  Heb. 
6 :  12,  and  eternal  glory.  "  He  that  believeth  shall  be  saved." 

3.  The  final  issue  or  consummation  of  grace  is  associated  with  faith. 
"  Henceforth  there  is  laid  up  for  you,"  etc.,  "  receiving  the  end  of  your 
faith,  even  the  salvation  of  your  souls. ", 

4.  Without  faith  there  can  be  no  gospel  salvation.   "  If  ye  believe  not 
that  I  am  he,  ye  shall  die  in  your  sins,"  "  He  that  believeth  shall  not  be 
condemned,"  etc.    This  co-operation  of  human  instrumentality  with  a 
gracious  and  divine  efficiency, 

5.  Perfectly  accords  with  our  own  and  all  genuine  Christian  experi- 
ences.  Surely  salvation  by  faith  is  the  glory  of  every  regenerated  heart. 
"  We  are  the  children  of  God  by  faith,"  "  By  faith  we  stand,"  "  Kept  by 
the  power  of  God  through  faith,"  etc. 

But  in  our  text  we  have,  secondly,  the  errors  on  this  subject  corrected. 
We  cannot  fail  to  observe  with  what  jealousy  the  sacred  writers  denounce 
any  encroachment  upon  the  province  of  grace.  Justification  is  one  of 
its  first  expressions,  as  an  act  of  pure  grace,  and  they  set  around  it  a 
guard  of  the  most  solemn  cautions.  Circumcision  was  the  only  rite 
that  the  Jewish  converts  wished  to  retain.  They  sought  and  struggled 
hard  to  mingle  this  with  "  the  righteousness  of  God  by  faith."  It  seemed 
a  harmless  peculiarity.  But  it  was  a  foreign  infusion  in  that  element 
which  must  be  purely  integral.  It  was  opening  the  door  to  other  insti- 
tutions. It  was  a  declaration  that  something  might  and  must  be  added 
to  that  on  the  simple  ground  of  which  we  are  accepted.  And  the  Apos- 
tle regarded  it  as  so  irreconcilable  with  the  profession  and  truth  of 
Christianity  that  he  who  was  guilty  of  it  "  was  a  debtor  to  do  the  whole 
law;"  that  Christ  should  profit  all  such  as  were  circumcised,  nothing ; 
"  That  Christ  was  become  of  no  effect  unto  them ; "  that  they  "  had 
fallen  from  grace."  Such  is  a  sum  of  the  texts. 

1.  It  is  not  of  yourselves,  it  is  the  gift  of  God,  and  God  is  its  Author, 
as  well  a.i  its  finisher. 

2.  It  is  one  of  the  fruits  of  the  Spirit,  and  must  therefore  be  the  gift 
of  God. 

3.  It  is  the  subject  of  prayer  and  cannot  therefore  be  of  human  pro- 
duction.   The  Apostle  prayed  for  it.    "  Lord  increase  our  faith." 


328  LIFE   OF   REV.    CHAELES   PITMAN,    D.D. 

4.  It  is  at  the  divine  disposal.  God  deals  to  every  man  the  measure 
of  faith. 

But  although  the  principle  of  faith,  or  in  other  words  the  power  of 
faith  is  the  gift  of  God,  the  exercise  of  faith  is  ours.  He  works  effectu- 
ally in  us,  but  does  not  believe  for  us. 

But 

2.  "  Not  of  works,"    This  may  be  considered 

1.  From  the  natural  character  and  relation  of  man.     Every  man  is  a 
sinner  and  of  course  under  the  malediction  of  the  law.   The  law — as  law 
— justifies  no  man.     It  cannot  remit  its  claims.    This  was  beautifully 
illustrated  by  the  excellent  Mr.  Newton,  which  he  said  he  had  used  in  a 
sermon  preached  to  a  company  of  colliers  in  his  own  country.     "  Sup- 
pose," said  he,  "  you  were  to  be  let  down  into  the  pit  by  a  chain  of  many 
links,  would  not  your  destruction  be  as  certain  by  the  breaking  of  a 
single  link  as  if  every  link  in  the  chain  should  break  ?"     The  applica- 
tion is  easy.     "  Cursed   is  every  one  that  continueth  not  in  all  things," 
etc. ;  "  He  that  offendeth  in  one  point  is  guilty  of  the  whole."    The 
poor  colliers  perceived  it  and  simultaneously  cried  out,  "  Now  I  see 
it,  now  I  see  it."     "  Not  of  works,  not  of  works." 

2.  From  the  nature  of  the  covenant  under  which  we  are  placed.     A 
covenant  of  grace  and  not  of  works.     But  let  us  carefully  discriminate. 
The  work  to  which  grace  is  opposed  is  some  presumed  ground  of  merit. 
Something  that  was  against  the  ready,  thankful  and  earnest  compliance 
of  the  sinner,  with  the   tendered  salvation  of   the  gospel.      But  if 
work  predominate  over  grace,  the  gospel  is  only  the  republished  law. 
This  law  is  what  it  was,  or  it  is  not.     If  it  is,  then,  why  call  that  "  the 
gospel  of  peace,"  which  only  tells  of  war.   Why  speak  of  "  the  hope  of  the 
gospel,"  when  Sinai  has  not  spent  a  thunder,  or  allayed  a  curse  ?    Why 
rejoice  in  the  republication  of  a  law  with  greater  clearness  in  those  rules 
which  we  have  violated,  and  greater  terribleness  in   those  penalties 
which  we  have  incurred  ?    Is  this  the  ministration  of  righteousness  in 
contrast  to  "  the  ministration  of  condemnation  ?"    But  let  grace  have  the 
pre-eminence,  let  the  tender  mercy  of  our  God  visit  us.    What  a  change 
comes  over  "  the  great  salvation."    What  light  passes  through  it.    What 
significance  impresses  itself  upon  it.     It  is  pardon  to  the  guilty,  it  is 
renovation  to  the  depraved,  it  is  relief  to  the  wretched,  it  is  restoration 
to  the  undone.     It  undertakes  the  whole  burden,  and  condescends  as  far 
as  we  have  sunk,  to  stoop  to  relieve  and  rescue  us.     It  never  pauses 
until  it  has  found  out  "  our  low  estate,"  and  never  relaxes  its  efforts 
until  it  has  lifted  us  from  it.    This  is  the  new  covenant,  the  better 
covenant.    In  this  covenant  "  grace  reigns  through  righteousness  unto 


SKETCHES   OF  SERMONS.  329 

eternal  life."  We  honor  grace,  therefore,  just  in  the  degree  we  honor 
the  mediation  of  Christ.  For  saith  the  apostle,  "  I  do  not  frustrate  the 
grace  of  God  ;  for  if  righteousness  come  by  the  law,  then  is  Christ  dead  in 
vain."  But,  "  if  it  be  of  works,"  at  once  the  Saviour's  mediation  is 
disregarded.  It  is  perfectly  clear  from  the  view  we  have  taken  of  this 
subject  that  salvation  "  by  works  "  finds  no  warrant  in  the  provisions  of 
the  new  covenant. 

Inferences : 

1.)  In  this  system  of  grace,  "  all  boasting  is  excluded,"  necessarily 
and  intentionally  excluded.  The  God  of  this  religion  will  suffer  no  one  to 
"glory  in  his  presence."'  Assumption  of  independence  is  the  "cursed 
thing,"  the  root  of  every  evil,  the  stamp  of  every  crime.  He  will  be 
acknowledged  as  the  giver  of  all  good. 

2.)  If  the  views  we  have  taken  of  this  subject  be  correct,  there  is  no 
room  in  this  system  for  despair.  Salvation  is  not  the  result  of  human 
merit,  but  of  the  infinite  and  gratuitous  mercy  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus. 

3.)  If  salvation  be  entirely  of  grace,  we  may  have  it  now.  A  long 
course  of  human  preparation  ia  not  only  unnecessary  but  derogatory  to 
it  We  are  not  required  to  "  do  some  great  thing,"  but  to  believe  on  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  with  all  the  heart. 


XIV. 

JUSTIFICATION  BY   FAITH   THROUGH   CHRIST. 

Therefore  being  justified  by  faith,  we  have  peace  with  God  through  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ. — Bom.  5 :  1. 

The  perfection  and  utility  of  the  Christian  system,  whether  it  be 
viewed  as  a  great  whole  or  candidly  investigated  in  all  its  component 
parts,  carries  with  it  almost  irresistible  evidence  of  a  Divine  Original. 
To  the  spiritual  mind  it  bears  the  indelible  impression  of  Infinite 
wisdom,  power,  justice,  holiness  and  goodness.  And,  although,  novelty 
and  refinements  in  the  arts  and  sciences  may  be,  and  generally  are  bene- 
ficial, yet  such  is  the  perfection  and  excellence  of  Christianity  that 
every  attempt  to  improve  and  refine  it  is  not  only  unnecessary  but 
dangerous  innovation. 

In  the  former  every  inventor  may  be  an  improvement,  but  in  the 
latter  there  are  always  delusions.  "This  System,"  says  a  beautiful 
writer, "  is  not  a  superannuated  thing  which  wants  repairing,  nor  is  it  an 
incomplete  thing  which  wants  filling  up,  nor  is  it  a  redundant  thing 
whose  excrescences  want  lopping,  nor  yet  an  erroneous  thing  whose 
errors  must  be  expunged.  Hence  metaphysical  and  speculative  inno- 


330  LIFE   OF   REV.    CHARLES   PITMAN,    D.D. 

vators  are,  in  all  cases,  the  perverters  and  corrupters  of  Christianity. 
Let  them  tremble,"  etc. 

In  taking  a  minute  survey  of  this  incomparable  system,  while  we  are 
charmed  with  its  admirable  perfections,  we  are  particularly  interested  in 
its  benevolent  designs.  And  what  are  those  designs  ?  That  guilty  and 
wretched  sinners  might  obtain  pardon  and  peace,  that  impure  men 
might  be  made  holy,  and,  finally,  that  a  guilty,  dying,  sin-cursed  race 
might  have  life.  The  first  thing  mentioned  in  this  gracious  design  is 
the  pardon  of  sins  and  the  doctrine  of  justification  by  faith.  This  is 
one  of  the  most  important  doctrines  in  the  gospel  scheme,  and,  con- 
sequently, is  incorporated  in  the  Articles  of  faith  of  every  Orthodox 
Christian  Church. 

The  doctrine  of  justification  by  faith  is  asserted  in  our  text,  and  it 
now  becomes  my  duty  to  endeavor  to  explain  and  enforce  it,  and  your 
duty  to  strive  to  understand  it,  and  our  mutual  interest  to  embrace  and 
enjoy  it.  That  the  subject  may  be  edifying  to  us  both  let  us  consider: 

I.  The  nature  of  the  justification  spoken  of  in  the  text.  This 
justification  assumes  two  facts,  that  man  is  guilty  and  condemned,  and 
that  he  deeply  deplores  his  guilt  and  misery,  while  he  humbly  submits 
to  the  terms  of  pardon.  To  come  to  a  particular  explanation  of  this 
gospel  blessing,  we  observe, — 

1.  That  it  produces  no  change  or  diminution  in  the  nature  and  desert 
of  sin,  etc. 

2.  This  justification  is  an  act  of  God,  not  in,  nor  upon  man,  but  for 
him  and  in  his  favor.     It  is  simply  a  change  of  moral  relation,  etc. 

3.  It  extends  to   all  past  sins  up  to  the  time  when  the  act  takes 
place,  etc. 

4.  It  does  not  terminate  our  state  of  probation.   It  is  neither  irreversi- 
ble nor  eternal,  etc. 

5.  It  may  not  only  be  forfeited,  but  if  rightly  sought  (during  proba- 
tion) recovered  again,  etc. 

II.  Its  immediate  effects  and  consequences. 

1.  The  restoration  of  amity  and  intercourse  between  the  pardoned 
criminal  and  a  pardoning  God. 

2.  Adoption  into  the  family  of  God,  and  a  consequent  right  to  eternal 
life. 

'3.  The  habitual  indwelling  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  which  implies  the  en- 
joyment and  exhibition  of  its  fruits,  such  as :  1.  Tranquillity  of  con- 
science. Rom.  15  :  16 ;  5 :  5.  2.  Power  over  sin.  Kom.  8 :  1-3.  3.  A 
joyous  hope  of  heaven.  Bom.  5 :  2. 

III.  Its  medium,  or  causes. 


SKETCHES   OF  SERMpNS  331 

1.  God  the  Father  is  the  great  procuring  cause  of  man's  justification. 
His  free  grace  is  the  originating  cause.    Titus  2:  11,  12,  13;  3:  4,  5. 
Kom.  3  :  2-4. 

2.  The  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  the  meritorious  cause.    Rom.  5 :  9,  10. 
Eph.  1 :  17.     1  Pet  3 :  18.     Rom.  3 :  21-26. 

3.  The  Holy  Spirit  is  the  efficient  cause. 

4.  Faith  is  the  instrumental  cause,  a  present  faith  fixed  upon  Christ 
as  its  object.     Faith  implies  an  enlightened  understanding  to  discern 
the  plan,  the  consent  of  the  will  and  affections  to  it,  the  choice  of  it, 
the  renunciation  of  other  refuges,  giving  it  the  desired  preference.    An 
actual  trust  in  the  Saviour,  with  a  personal  appropriation  of  His  merits. 
This  is  the  faith  by  which  we  are  justified. 


XV. 

FORMAL  BUT  POWERLESS  PROFESSION. 

Having  a  form  of  godliness,  but  denying  the  power  thereof :  from  such  turn 
away. — 2  Tim.  3 :  5. 

"All  is  not  gold  that  glitters."  This  maxim  will  hold  good  in  the 
natural,  moral  and  spiritual  world.  Perhaps  nothing  is  more  common 
than  for  a  man  to  be  deceived  by  his  fellow-man  in  consequence  of  im- 
posing but  fallacious  appearances.  As  physical  beings  more  often  artfully 
impose  upon  each  other  by  passing  for  beautiful,  mighty,  opulent,  chaste 
beings.  While  the  reverse  is  true.  As  intellectual  and  moral  beings, 
they  often  palm  themselves  upon  society,  as  intelligent,  learned,  benevo- 
lent and  virtuous,  and  with  these  assumptions  demand  from  the  cringing 
multitude  around  them,  all  that  attention,  respect  and  homage  which 
is  seldom,  or  never  claimed  by  those  who  are  in  reality,  what  they  are 
only  in  appearance.  But  when  we  contemplate  man  in  a  religious  point 
of  view,  we  fondly  anticipate  an  exhibition  of  unsullied  purity,  inflexible 
virtue,  unbending  integrity  and  undeviating  piety.  In  this  we  are  liable 
to  be  frequently  and  sadly  mistaken,  for  even  the  histories  of  the  best 
furnish,  but  too  much  proof  of  the  universal  peccability  of  man.  And 
if  the  "  Cedars  of  Lebanon  "  have  been  shaken,  what  may  we  expect 
from  the  "  bruised  reed  "  and  "  smoking  flax  ?  " 

When  we  look  abroad  and  see  the  great  exertions  which  are  being 
made  in  the  Christian  world  to  extend  the  boundaries  of  the  church, 
and  when  we  see  these  exertions  crowned  with  success  in  the  accession 
of  multitudes  to  the  visible  church,  we  are  led  to  look  for  the  speedy 
extinction  of  all  vice  and  misery.  But  when  we  take  a  view  of  the  in- 
ternal State  of  Zion,  these  pleasant  prospects  become  obscured,  and 


332  LIFE   OF   REV.   CHARLES   PITMAN,  D.D. 

where  we  least  suspected  it,  and  most  dreaded  it,  we  are  constrained  to 
witness  the  prevalence  of  pride,  covetousness,  bigotry  and  formality. 
Such  a  state  of  things,  the  apostle  seems  to  have  reference  to  in  the  text. 
It  may  be  proper  to  notice. 

First.  What  may  be  comprehended  in  a  mere  form  of  godliness. 

1.)  Mere  external  devotion.     Isa.  29 :  13 ;  Ezek.  33 :  31-32. 

2.)  Orthodox  sentiments.  1  Cor.  12 :  2.  This  is  like  Nebuchadnez- 
zar's image,  "  the  head  fine  gold,  and  the  feet  iron  and  clay." 

3.)  A  superficial  repentance  and  partial  reformation. 

4.)  The  appearance  and  ostentatious  shows  of  some  particular  grace  or 
virtue. 

5. )  Great  zeal  for  some  party  opinion  or  circumstance  of  religion. 

Second.  What  is  meant  by  the  power  of  godliness. 

1.)  An  abiding  evidence  of  God's  reconciling  love. 

2.)  A  sincere  and  diligent  use  of  all  the  means  of  grace. 

3.)  Singleness  of  heart  and  purity  of  intention. 

4.)  Experimental  and  practical  holiness  which  consists :  1.  In  the 
mortification  of  our  lusts.  2.  In  the  subjugation  of  our  passions.  1  Jno. 
3 :  10.  3.  In  the  government  of  our  tongues.  James  1 :  26 ;  3 :  2-4. 
4.  In  the  cultivation  of  all  the  Christian  graces. 

Third.  The  danger  of  separating  the  form  from  the  power  of  godliness. 

1.)  It  endangers  our  personal  salvation.  The  ends  of  true  religion 
are  to  please  God,  to  give  solid  peace  to  the  heart,  and  to  save  the  soul 
in  heaven.  In  the  mere  formalist  all  these  ends  are  defeated.  Thus 
the  pains  he  takes  to  appear  what  he  is  not,  results  in  his  own  damna- 
tion. 

2.)  It  endangers  the  salvation  of  others.  "  From  which  turn  away." 
The  mere  formalist  is  infectious  in  his  spirit,  conversation  and  practice. 
He  is  always  an  Achan  in  the  Camp  of  Israel. 

Inferences : 

1.)  The  religion  of  the  gospel  is  spiritual. 

2.)  Professors  are  in  danger  of  self-deception. 

3.)  This  subject  should  lead  us  to  serious  examination. 


XVI. 

8ANCTIFICATION  OF  BELIEVERS. 

And  for  their  sake*  I  sanctify  myself,  that  they  also  might  be  sanctified 
through  the  truth. — John  17 :  19. 

Our  text  forms  a  part  of  that  most  admirable  prayer  offered  by  our  Lord 
and  Master,  at  the  conclusion  of  a  sermon  commencing  at  verse  13th,  of 


SKETCHES   OF   SERMONS.  333 

the  13th  chapter  of  this  book.  The  sermon  itself  is  inimitably  grand, 
and,  in  one  respect  at  least,  is  superior  to  the  sermon  on  the  mount.  In 
the  latter  the  reader  sees  a  strict  morality  which  he  fears  he  shall  never 
be  able  to  perform ;  in  the  former  he  sees  all  things  possible  to  him  that 
believeth ;  for  that  very  God  who  made  him  shall  dwell  in  hia  heart, 
and  enable  him  to  do  all  the  pleasure  of  his  will.  The  passage  is  in  no 
respect  inferior  to  the  sermon.  Why  should  it  be?  They  were  both 
from  the  lips  of  him  who  "spake  as  never  man  spake."  But  did  the 
blessed  Redeemer  pray?  Yes.  If  some  of  you  can  live  without  prayer 
he  did  not.  "In  the  days  of  his  flesh  he  offered  up  prayers  and  suppli- 
cations with  strong  crying  and  tears  unto  him  that  was  able  to  save  him 
from  death,  and  was  heard  in  that  he  feared." 

In  the  sacred  history  we  often  read  of  his  praying,  but  the  Holy  Ghost 
has  more  iully  recorded  and  signalized  the  prayer  contained  in  this  chap- 
ter than  in  almost  any  other  case.  It  was  delivered  in  the  open  air,  just 
as  he  was  going  to  suffer.  He  had  left  the  communion  chamber  and  was 
approaching  the  garden  of  Gethsemane.  He  passed  near  Cedron.  The 
hum  of  the  adjoining  metropolis  was  diminished.  It  was  towards  mid- 
night. The  moon  was  walking  in  brightness,  and  was  at  its  full.  He 
was  now  to  take  an  affectionate  farewell  of  his  immediate  disciples,  who 
stood  around  him  weepii\g.  He  considered  them  as  the  depositories  of 
his  truth,  and  the  representatives  of  his  Church  in  all  ages.  "  And  lift- 
ing up  his  hands  to  heaven  "  he  commends  them  to  the  blessing  of  hia 
Father,  and  our  Father ;  his  God,  and  our  God.  And  now  behold  the 
principal  argument  upon  which  his  intercession  rests:  "All  mine  are 
thine,  and  thine  are  mine,  and  I  am  glorified  in  them,  and  for  their 
sakes  I  sanctify  myself  that  they  might  also  be  sanctified."  In  the 
further  illustration  of  this  most  interesting  subject,  let  us  make  a  few  re- 
marks on  the  twofold  sanctification  spoken  of  in  the  text,  with  the  two 
distinct  applications  of  the  term  arid  their  intimate  connection,  the  one 
being  derived  from  the  other.  According  to  this  plan  we  inquire :  1st. 
What  is  the  sanctification  of  Christ?  Here  the  word  sanctify  evidently 
means  to  consecrate,  set  apart,  or,  as  Dr.  Clarke  renders,  to  devote  to 
death.  It  could  not  mean,  in  his  case,  to  purify,  for  he  was  not  impure 
or  depraved.  As  under  the  law,  persons  and  things  dedicated  to  God 
were  considered  as  hallowed,  or  holy,  so  Jesus,  when  he  says,  "Lo,  I 
come  to  do  thy  will,  O  God,"  consecrated  himself  to  be  an  atonement,  to 
make  reconciliation  for  the  sins  of  the  people. 

Observe,  1.  The  voluntariness  of  this  consecration.  He  does  not  say, 
I  am  sanctified,  but  "  I  sanctify  myself."  He  made  himself  of  no  repu- 
tation, etc.  He  was  not  passive  in  the  business,  neither  was  he  com- 


334  LIFE   OF   REV.   CHARLES  PITMAN,   D.D. 

pelled.  His  life  was  not  taken  from  him  :  "  I  lay  it  down  of  myself." 
It  was,  therefore,  a  matter  with  him  of  the  freest  choice  and  fullest  pur- 
pose. He  assumed  our  nature  and  entered  our  world  for  that  very  end. 
"The  Son  of  man  came  not  to  be  ministered  unto,  but  to  minister,"  etc. 

2.  The  relativeness  of  the  consecration,  "  for  their  sakes/'  not  his  own. 
He  had  no  sin  of  his  own  to  expiate.     He  was,  therefore,  cut  off,  but  not 
for  himself.     He  was  stricken,  smitten  of  God  and  afflicted,  but  he  was 
wounded  for  our  transgressions;  he  was  bruised  for  our  iniquities  ;  the 
chastisement  of  our  peace  was  upon   him,  and  by  his  stripes  we  are 
healed.     Here  preach  Christ  as  the  sinner's  substitute. 

3.  The  expensiveness  or  priceless  worth  of  the  dedication.    This  is 
not  in  our  power  to  estimate.   -We  must  possess  the  same  feelings  and 
bear  the  same  load  before  language  or  imagination,  however  lively,  can 
do  anything  like  justice  to  the  sufferings  he  endured.     Here  examine 
his  history  and  describe  his  sufferings. 

4.  The  unworthiness  and  vileness  of  the  objects  of  this  consecration. 
"When  we  were  without  strength  in  due  time,"  etc.     "  For  scarcely  for 
a  righteous  man,"  etc.     "  But  God  commendeth  his  love  toward  us  in 
that  while  we  were  yet  sinners,"  etc.      Contrast  his  love  with  that  of 
the  noblest  of  earth's  benefactors.   "  O  for  this  love,  let  rocks  and  hills," 
etc.  , 

Secondly.  What  is  implied  in  the  sanctification  of  Christians? 
This  differs  much  from  the  former.     It  not  only  implies  consecration, 
but  purification.     It  includes  in  it : 

1.  Universal  renovation  and  purification.     Having  the  blood  of  Jesus 
Christ  to  cleanse  from  all  sin. 

2.  Universal  obedience.     Walking  in  all  the  ordinances  of  the  Lord's 
house  blameless. 

3.  Universal  submission.     Casting  all  your  care  upon  him.     Commit- 
ting all  to  his  disposal,  and  calmly  acquiescing  in  all  his  dispensations. 

4.  View  these  two  sanctifications  in  their  intimate  connections:  "For 
their  sakes."   What  an  estimate  he  places  on  our  sanctification  !    For  its 
accomplishment  he  died.  See  Gal.  1:4;  Titus  2:  14;  Psa.  130:  8. 

Inferences : 

1.  Learn  the  deception  of  those  who  seek,  from  the  death  of 

Christ,  hope  and  not  holiness. 

2.  Of  those  who  substitute  a  lifeless  devotion  for  an  obedient 

faith. 

3.  That  as  Christ  is  the  source,  so  is  he  the  means  of  sanctifica- 

tion. Gal.  2:  20. 


SPIRITUAL  PATHOLOGY.  335 


XVII. 

SPIRITUAL  PATHOLOGY;    OR,  THE  SYMPTOMS,  CAUSES  AND  CURES  OF 
DISEASES  INCIDENT  TO  THE  HUMAN  SOUL. 

For  this  cause  many  are  weak  and  sickly  among  you,  and  many 
sleep.— \  Cor.  11 :  30. 

In  discoursing  upon  this  subject  we  shall 

I.  Point  out  what  we  conceive  to  be  the  most  striking  symptoms  of  a 
weak  and  sickly  state  in  religious  experience. 

II.  Notice  a  few  of  the  causes  which  never  fail  to  produce  it,  and 

III.  Give  some  directions  concerning  a  cure,  both  as  it  respects  the 
remedy  itself,  and  the  means  of  its  application. 

According  to  the  afore-mentioned  plan,  we  are 

I.  To  point  out  what  we  conceive  to  be  the  most  striking  symptoms  of 
a  weak  and  sickly  state  in  religious  experience. 

In  doing  this  it  may  not  be  improper  to  observe,  in  the  commencement, 
that  the  symptoms  of  spiritual  disease,  are,  in  many  respects,  analogous 
to  those  of  the  maladies  of  the  body.  Hence  the  Evangelical  Prophet,  in 
exhibiting  the  apostacy,  defection  and  depravity  of  the  Jewish  nation, 
makes  it  resemble  the  human  body,  "  whose  whole  head  is  sick,"  whose 
brain,  that  most  essential  and  precious  organ  of  the  mind's  operation,  is 
deranged  in  all  its  functions  ;  "  whose  whole  heart  is  faint,"  has  become 
feeble  and  intermittent,  having  lost,  in  a  great  degree,  its  elastic  and 
propelling  power  by  which  the  circulation  of  the  blood  is  effected — in 
short  a  body  universally  infected  with  a  loathsome  disease,  in  a  state  of 
putrefaction,  getting  worse  and  worse.  See  Isa.  1 :  5,  6. 

How  very  striking  is  the  description  of  the  state  of  that  highly  favored, 
but  rebellious  people,  both  as  it  respects  their  apostacy  and  pollution, 
and  extreme  danger  of  perishing  without  remedy.  Who  that  contem- 
plated the  beauty  and  force  of  this  illustration  can  doubt  the  propriety 
and  utility  of  illustrating  spiritual  truths  by  the  sober  and  legitimate  use 
of  figures  ?  Here  let  us  also  add  that  Jesus  Christ  himself  has  sanc- 
tioned this  mode  of  spiritual  interpretation  in  Matt.  9:  12,  "They  that  be 
whole  need  not  a  physician,  but  they  that  are  sick."  Supported  by  the 
highest  authority,  and  encouraged  by  the  brightest  and  best  examples, 
we  shall  proceed,  by  way  of  analogy,  to  give  some  symptoms  of  spiritual 
disease,  or  of  a  weak  and  sickly  state  of  the  soul. 


336  LIFE   OF    REV.    CHARLES   PITMAN,    D.D. 

1.)  The  first  sign  of  disease  which  we  shall  mention  is  a  disrelish  for 
food.  It  is  a  fact  obvious  to  all  that  the  continuance  of  animal  life  de- 
pends upon  the  reception  of  a  proper  portion  of  corporeal  aliment.  But 
when  the  body  is  in  any  considerable  degree  disordered  the  stomach 
generally  loathes  its  food,  and  the  patient  refuses  sustenance.  This  evi- 
dence is  equally  striking  in  our  spiritual  state.  In  that  very  proportion 
that  the  health  of  the  soul  declines,  in  that  same  proportion  do  we  dis- 
cover a  disrelish  for  "the  bread  of  life." 

He  who  could  formerly  say  "  Thy  law  is  my  delight,  and  in  it  do  I 
meditate  day  and  night,"  now  lays  aside  his  Bible,  as  a  neglected  book, 
and  perhaps  substitutes  a  novel  for  his  amusement,  and  thus  all  his 
leisure  hours  are  employed  in  extracting  intellectual  and  spiritual  poison 
from  its  fanciful,  if  not  filthy,  contents.  He  who  could  say  from  the 
sincerity  of  his  heart,  "  I  was  glad  when  it  was  said  unto  me,  Let  us  go 
into  the  house  of  the  Lord,"  and  would  scarcely  suffer  even  lawful  obsta- 
cles to  prevent  his  constant  attendance  upon  the  ministry  of  the  word, 
now  feels  a  strange  discontent  to  a  preached  gospel,  to  all  the  ordinances 
of  God's  house,  and,  in  a  word,  to  all  the  divinely-appointed  means  of 
grace. 

Indeed  I  am  inclined  to  believe  that  spiritual  declension  uniformly 
commences  in  the  heart,  and  thus  gradually  taints  the  spirituality  of 
closet  exercises,  clips  the  wings  of  devotional  fervor,  obstructs  the 
sweetest  intercourse  with  Heaven,  eclipses  the  brightest  prospects  of 
glory  and  finally  brings  the  once  truthful  and  happy  believer  into  a  state 
of  condemnation  and  wretchedness.  In  this  situation,  being  shorn,  in  a 
considerable  degree,  of  his  spiritual  strength,  and  too  much  disposed  to 
reason  with  the  adversary  of  his  soul,  who  now  "  comes  in  like  a  flood," 
upon  him,  he  falls  an  easy  prey  to  infernal  subtlety. 

The  arch-fiend,  having  been  so  successful  in  his  attack  upon  the  vitals 
of  Christian  experience,  now  finds  it  comparatively  easy  to  persuade  the 
enfeebled  soul  either  that  Christianity  is  a  delusion — that  he  has  only 
exchanged  the  reveries  of  enthusiasm  for  a  more  refined  and  rational  re- 
ligion— or  that  in  consequence  of  his  apostacy  his  case  has  become  en- 
tirely hopeless. 

The  fatal  qonsequences  of  this  gross  deception  will  be  a  disrelish  for 
spiritual  nutriment,  and  the  partial  or  entire  neglect  of  all  the  exterior 
of  divine  worship.  This  view  of  the  subject  is  authorized  by  our  blessed 
Lord  himself,  when  he  affirmed  that  "  a  corrupt  tree  cannot  bring  forth 
good  fruit."  This  divine  affirmation  fully  justifies  us  from  the  charges 
of  raah  judging  and  uncharitable  censure,  when  in  the  absence  of  all  the 
fruits  of  the  Spirit  we  pronounce,  there  is  an  entire  destitution  of  saving 


SPIRITUAL  PATHOLOGY.  337 

faith ;  or  if,  when  the  streams  are  impure,  we  assert  that  the  fountain 
must  be  impure  also. 

2.  Another  symptom  of  disease,  to  which  we  invite  your  attention,  is 
that  of  an  irregular  appetite.  And  here  it  is  proper  to  remark  that  the 
different  kinds  of  disease  are  accompanied  with  different  symptoms,  as 
also  that  the  same  disease,  in  different  constitutions,  differs  in  its  charac- 
teristics and  evidences.  An  irregular  appetite  sometimes  loathes  its 
food,  and  at  other  times  is  extremely  voracious,  ready  to  devour,  almost 
without  discrimination.  This  irregularity  is  generally  considered,  as  it 
regards  the  body,  a  very  unfavorable  indication.  And  inconstancy  in 
the  temperament,  experience  and  conduct  in  a  professor  of  religion, 
argues  quite  as  unfavorably  of  the  state  of  the  soul. 

Sometimes  he  manifests  such  an  eagerness  for  spiritual  food  that  he 
seems  ready  to  swallow  everything  that  drops  from  the  lips  of  his  min- 
ister, whether  it  be  true  or  false,  without  any  kind  of  discrimination. 
At  others  he  finds  it  difficult  to  drag  himself  to  the  house  of  God,  and 
when  there  he  is  so  far  from  considering  it  an  entertainment,  or  a  feast, 
that  he  is  glad  when  he  is  released  from  his  comfortless  confinement. 
There  is  generally,  however,  with  all  his  irregularities,  a  very  great  uni- 
formity in  his  experience  and  practice.  At  the  time  you  hear  him 
speaking  of  his  ecstatic  joys,  his  brilliant  prospects,  etc.,  you  will  find 
him  so  scrupulously  conscientious  in  avoiding  even  "  the  appearance  of 
evil,"  and  in  the  performance  of  the  smallest  duties  as  to  induce  the  be- 
lief that  his  religious  attainments  are  of  a  superior  kind. 

But  no  sooner  has  his  spiritual  tide  run  down  than  you  may  hear  him 
complaining  of  depression,  discouragement,  oppositions,  weakness,  etc., 
and  this  is  accompanied  with  such  a  laxity  in  self-government,  and  with 
such  indifference  to  spiritual  duties  aa  might  influence  you  to  change 
your  opinion  concerning  him,  and  dispose  you  to  rank  him  with  the 
fallen  and  lukewarm  Laodiceans.  But  to  avoid  misconstruction,  it  may 
be  proper  to  observe  here  that  every  degree  of  irregularity  is  not  incon- 
sistent with  a  justified  state.  Indeed  there  are  cases  in  which  it  may  be 
discovered,  to  a  considerable  extent,  even  where  the  pardon  of  sin  is 
realized  and  enjoyed. 

It  is  requisite  that  we  make  great  allowances  for  natural  constitutions, 
intellectual  deficiencies,  a  bad  education,  with  a  great  variety  of  circum- 
stantial impediments,  all  or  any  of  which  may  produce  inconstancy, 
both  in  experience  and  practice.  But  the  character  we  have  been  con- 
sidering is  one  who  is  governed  more  by  his  passions  than  his  under- 
standing— one  whose  heart  is  without  light,  whose  zeal  is  without  knowl- 
edge, whose  heart  may  sometimes  be  warm,  but  whose  understanding  is 
22 


338  LIFE  OF  REV.   CHARLES   PITMAN,   D.D. 

generally  dark ;  who,  when  his  animal  fervor  runs  high,  is  a  strenuous 
and  active  Christian,  but  who,  when  these  transient  emotions  have  sub- 
sided, being  destitute  of  any  other  stimulus,  sinks  into  spiritual  torpor 
and  inactivity. 

This  man,  having  no  other  criteria  by  which  to  judge  of  his  spiritual 
state  than  his  frames  of  mind  and  feelings,  is  frequently  as  great  a  mys- 
tery to  himself  as  he  is  to  others.  And  until  the  faculties  of  his  mind 
and  the  affections  of  his  heart  are  equally  improved  and  cultivated  his 
enjoyments  will  be  inconstant  and  his  deportment  irregular.  An  entire 
disregard  to  mental  and  spiritual  improvement,  where  the  means  of  them 
are  within  our  reach,  makes  ignorance  our  crime,  and  renders  us  inex- 
cusable for  its  evil  consequences. 

From  what  has  been  said  it  will  appear  that  instability  in  matters  of 
religion  does  not  comport  with  a  state  of  Christian  holiness  ;  that  with 
some  exceptions  it  is  even  incompatible  with  a  state  of  justification,  and 
that  in  all  cases  it  argues  a  great  want  of  soundness  and  firmness  in  the 
general  health  of  the  soul. 

3.  Again,  where  food  is  received  in  sufficient  quantities  and  periodical 
regularity,  in  consequence  of  the  weakness  of  the  digestive  organs,  it  re- 
mains in  its  crude  state  and  affords  but  little  nutrition  to  the  body. 
Indeed,  in  many  instances,  it  rather  enfeebles  than  nourishes  it.    So  the 
Christian,  however  punctual  in  his  attendance  upon  the  word  and  ordin- 
ances, if  he  does  not  digest  what  he  hears  and  receives  by  serious  medi- 
tation, private  and  conscientious  examination,  accompanied  with  solemn 
prayer  to  God  for  has  blessing  upon  it,  will,  notwithstanding  his  valu- 
able privileges,  be  constrained  to  exclaim :  "O  my  leanness,  my  lean- 
ness!" and  to  acknowledge  that  he  has  "received  the  grace  of  God  in 
vain." 

But  the  healthy  Christian  is  a  different  character  altogether.  He  goes 
from  his  closet  to  the  church  and  returns  from  the  church  to  the  closet. 
The  blessed  Jesus  condescends  to  "talk  with -him  by  the  way,"  to  his 
understanding,  while  his  heartburns  within  him  in  consequence  of  the 
spiritual  discoveries  he  has  made,  the  heavenly  manna  with  which  he  is  so 
abundantly  supplied.  This  is  the  man  who,  like  the  tree  planted  by  the 
rivers  of  waters,  that  bringeth  forth  his  fruit  in  his  season,  his  leaf  shall 
not  wither,  and  whatsoever  he  doeth  shall  prosper,  Psa.  1 :  1-3.  Thus  we 
discover  that  spiritual  indigestion  is  a  third  symptom  of  a  diseased  state 
of  the  soul,  while  at  the  same  time  it  is  calculated  to  increase  that  dis- 
ease. 

4.  It  may  not  be  unimportant  to  notice  in  the  fourth  place,  that  extreme 
languor,  which  in  many  cases,  characterizes  the  invalid.    Such  is  the 


SPIRITUAL   PATHOLOGY.  339 

sense  of  debility  and  lassitude,  that  he  feels  an  aversion  even  to  moder- 
ate exercise,  although  it  may  be  the  very  thing  his  feeble  state  requires. 
This  languor  does  not  only  affect  the  body,  but  the  mind,  and  it  partially, 
or  entirely  disqualifies  its  subject  for  the  business  and  concerns  of  active 
life.  Perhaps  these  remarks  may  best  apply  to  those  diseases  which  are 
of  a  nervous  character.  In  a  spiritual  sense,  however,  they  will  gener- 
ally apply  without  much  qualification.  Languor  and  listlessness  are  al- 
ways prominent  features  in  the  character  of  the  sickly  Christian,  or  spir- 
itual sluggard.  He  pleads  for  self-indulgence.  "  A  litfle  more  sleep,  a 
little  more  slumber."  He  spends  his  time  in  cold,  heartless,  lazy  wishes. 
" He  desireth  "  saith  Solomon,  "and  hath  not."  The  smallest  trifles 
discourage  him  with  "  His  way  "  in  his  estimation,  "  is  as  an  hedge  of 
thorns."  He  is  fretful  in  excuses  for  his  negligence.  "  He  will  not 
plough  by  reason  of  the  cold."  He  creates  imaginary  difficulties  and 
dangers.  "  He  saith  there  is  a  lion  in  the  way."  To  sum  up  all  in  a 
few  words,  he  has  an  entire  indisposition  to  holy  exercise,  and  conse- 
quently is  disqualified  for  the  enjoyment  of  Divine  favor  and  for  the  ob- 
servance of  the  Divine  precepts.  This  listlessness  in  Christian  experi- 
ence is  certainly  incompatible  with  a  state  of  religious  progression,  both 
as  it  regards  faith  and  practice,  and  must  therefore  be  considered  as 
another  symptom  of  moral  debility  or  spiritual  declension. 

5.  Sickness  is  very  frequently  accompanied  with  much  restlessness, 
and  in  these  cases  it  requires  an  almost  constant  change  of  bodily  posi- 
tion, and  still  its  subject  ia  a  prey  to  uneasy  sensations  and  anxious  dis- 
quietude. With  regard  to  moral  disease  it  is  generally  attended  with 
much  restlessness  arising  from  a  sense  of  past  deviations,  present  guilt, 
or  a  continued  dread  of  future  consequences,  and  when  this  is  not  the 
case,  there  are  exhibited  symptoms  still  more  unfavorable. 

But  this  inquietude  of  soul  is  always  augmented  in  the  backslider 
when  he  reflects  upon  his  pardon  forfeited,  his  joys  departed,  his  spirit- 
ual sun  eclipsed,  his  heavenly  prospects  beclouded  and  all  his  towering 
hopes  buried  in  ruins.  Under  these  circumstances  his  soul  is  frequently 
"  cast  down,  and  disquieted  within  him."  And  it  is  worse  than  in  vain, 
after  having  "  forsaken  the  fountain  of  living  waters  "  for  him  to  "  hew 
out  to  himself  cisterns,  broken  cisterns  that  can  hold  no  water,"  and 
such  is  every  attempt  he  makes  to  fill  the  vacuum  of  his  soul  with  earthly 
good.  No  change  of  worldly  circumstances,  however  agreeable  and  ad- 
vantageous, can  relieve  his  agitated  breast,  and  if  he  has  recourse  to 
company,  amongst  Christians,  he  is  self-condemned,  and  in  society  with 
the  ungodly  he  is  an  object  of  ridicule  to  them,  of  shame  to  himself  and 
of  pity  to  the  church.  In  days  that  are  past  he  could  stay  his  soul  on 


LIFE   OP   REV.    CHARLES   PITMAN,    D.D. 

God,  while  divine  grace  flowed  like  a  river;  but  now  his  mind  ia  full  of 
perturbation  and  his  heart  of  trouble. 

6.  Another  very  unfavorable  sign  in  our  abnormal  state  is  a  desire  for 
unhealthy  food.  This,  in  a  physical  sense,  is  perhaps  peculiar  to  some 
diseases,  or  to  different  stages  in  the  same  complaint ;  and  the  gratifica- 
tion of  it,  is  in  many  instances,  fatal.  In  a  spiritual  sense  this  symptom 
is  as  unpropitious,  if  not  more  so,  than  any  of  those  afore-mentioned. 
It  was  this  state  that  characterized  the  fallen  Corinthians  ;  not  being 
contented  with  a  Christian  institution,  they  attempted  to  blend  their 
Jewish  ceremonies  with  a  gospel  ordinance,  thereby  evidencing  that 
their  spiritual  taste  had  become  dangerously  vitiated.  And  here  we  may 
remark  that  in  the  hearers  of  the  word  a  desire  for  literary  varnish  or 
oratorical  embellishment,  instead  of  plain,  unpolished,  uncorrupted  truth, 
is  a  desire  for  unhealthy  food. 

Those  who  are  anxious  for  public  harangues  upon  the  secret  decrees 
of  God,  while  they  give  but  little  attention  to  those  which  are  revealed, 
evidence  a  desire  for  unhealthy  food.  Those  who  wish  free  grace 
preached  in  such  a  manner  as  to  destroy  moral  agency,  and  those  who 
would  have  free-will  exalted  so  as  to  detract  from  the  merit  of  free 
grace,  are  equally  desirous  for  unwholesome  nutriment. 

And  what  shall  we  say  of  those  whose  thirst  for  novelty  is  so  great 
that  they  make  no  hesitation  in  deserting  their  own  churches  where  they 
are  constantly  "  fed  with  the  sincere  milk  of  the  word,"  or  the  pure  mar- 
row of  the  gospel,  for  the  sake  of  being  entertained  by  a  man  who  has 
all  the  infernal  art  of  leveling  all  distinctions  between  virtue  and  vice  ? 
or  one  who,  indulging  in  all  the  reveries  of  a  visionary  imagination, 
promises  all  his  deluded  followers  a  heaven  as  gross  and  sensual  as  that 
of  Mahomet  ?  These  corrupters  of  the  gospel,  I  boldly  affirm,  are  never 
encouraged  by  healthy  and  conscientious  Christians,  unless  they  do  it 
ignorantly. 

We  have  now,  according  to  promise,  brought  to  view  some  of  the 
most  striking  symptoms  of  a  weak  and  sickly  state  of  religious  expe- 
rience, and  we  fear  there  are  few  upon  whom  one  or  more  of  these  marks 
cannot  be  found.  More  symptoms  might  be  adduced,  but  it  is  time  to 
dismiss  this  part  of  our  subject  and  proceed  agreeably  to  the  plan  pro- 
posed, 

II.  To  notice  a  few  of  the  causes  which  never  fail  to  produce  it. 

1.  The  first  which  we  shall  notice  is  strife,  and  divisions  among  pro- 
fessors of  religion.  The  apostle  charges  the  church  at  Corinth  with 
being  contentious,  and  the  prevalence  of  envy,  strife  and  divisions  among 
them,  he  declares  to  be  not  only  an  evidence,  but  a  cause  of  their  carnal 


SPIRITUAL   PATHOLOGY.  341 

and  sickly  state.  The  same  charge  is  reiterated  against  them  in  the 
chapter  out  of  which  we  have  selected  the  text.  And  we  may  unhesita- 
tingly assert  that  strife  and  contention  are  directly  hostile  to  the  sancti- 
fying influences  of  the  Spirit ;  and  that  while  they  give  evidence  of  par- 
tial decrease,  they  lead  to  its  increase,  and  unless  counteracted,  must 
inevitably  terminate  in  death.  Hence  St.  James  affirms  that  "  where 
envying  and  strife  is,  there  is  confusion  and  every  evil  work."  These 
dispositions  indulged  in  the  heart,  necessarily  banish  and  exclude  from 
it  the  love  of  the  Father,  the  fellowship  of  the  Son,  and  the  peaceful 
influences  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  The  sum  total  of  the  Christian  religion 
is  comprehended  in  supreme  love  to  God,  a  love  of  complacency  and 
delight  towards  sincere  Christians,  and  a  love  of  pity  and  commisera- 
tion towards  the  vilest  offenders,  yea  our  bitterest  enemies.  Where 
this  love  is  wanting  with  respect  to  the  latter  object,  it  is  a  clear  evi- 
dence that  it  does  not  exist  towards  the  former. 

And  what  is  still  more  lamentable  is,  that  the  indulgence  and  cher- 
ishing of  these  wrathful  dispositions  render  it  impossible  to  use  those 
means  by  which  reconciliation  and  restoration  might  be  effected.  In 
fostering  these  ungracious  tempers  we  voluntarily  debar  ourselves  from 
all  access  to  a  throne  of  grace,  break  off  all  communion  and  intercourse 
with  Heaven  and  thus  expose  ourselves  to  the  just  wrath  of  an  in- 
censed God. 

Scripture,  reason  and  experience  all  unite  to  demonstrate  that  the 
"God  of  love,"  "of  peace,"  and  "of  mercy"  cannot  make  that  heart 
his  habitation  which  in  its  tempers  and  affections  is  the  very  reverse  of 
these  glorious  attributes  and  perfections.  Can  the  "Prince  of  Peace  " 
who  shed  his  heart's  blood  to  "  make  peace"  live  in  that  heart  that  har- 
bors the  serpentine  brood  of  hatred,  malice,  revenge,  etc.,  to  the  entire 
exclusion  of  peace?  Or  is  it  reasonable  to  suppose  that  the  Spirit  of 
Peace  can  be  the  root  upon  which  grows  the  base  and  fatal  tempers  of 
bitterness,  wrath,  anger,  clamor,  evil  speaking  and  malice?  Religion, 
morality,  and  even  refined  heathenism,  with  one  united  voice,  answers 
in  the  negative.  From  the  afore-mentioned  remarks,  it  must  be  obvious 
that  strife  and  contentions,  cherished  in  the  heart,  invariably  produce 
spiritual  debility  and  death. 

2.  The  great  head  of  the  Christian  Church  has,  in  the  infinitude  of  his 
goodness  and  mercy,  favored  it  with  the  "  ministry  of  reconciliation." 
He  also  has  instituted  in  it  ordinances,  and  means  of  grace,  and  all  this 
with  a  special  design  to  our  present  and  eternal  benefit.  How  the  cor- 
ruption of  this  ministry,  these  ordinances  and  means,  must  of  necessity 
be  productive  of  fatal  consequences.  Of  this  crime,  however,  the  Cor- 


342  LIFE   OF   REV.   CHARLES   PITMAN,   D.D. 

inthians  were  guilty  in  several  particulars,  two  of  which  we  shall  men- 
tion at  this  time. 

First,  they  virtually  corrupted  the  ministry  of  the  word  in  their  un- 
due partiality  towards  its  ministers.  By  this  "  glorying "  in  favorite 
preachers,  they  poured  contempt  upon  the  sacred  word,  prizing  it  only 
for  the  sake  of  the  vehicle  through  which  it  was  conveyed,  or  the  man- 
ner in  which  it  was  discussed.  And  here  let  it  be  observed  that  these 
cherished  partialities,  where  they  are  excessive,  always  go  to  arraign 
the  Divine  Being  at  the  bar  of  human  reason  or  fancy,  and  to  impeach 
his  wisdom  in  the  qualifications  and  appointments  of  his  own  ministers. 
Thus  by  attributing  more  to  the  instrument,  than  to  God  who  employs 
it,  we  prevent  the  salutary  effects  of  the  gospel  upon  ourselves,  and  pro- 
voke the  just  displeasure  of  him  who  is  jealous  of  his  own  honor  and 
"  who  will  not  give  his  glory  to  another." 

But  Secondly,  they  had  perverted  the  design  and  intention  of  Heaven 
in  the  institution  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  and  this,  according  to  the  text, 
was  the  particular  cause  of  their  weak  and  sickly  state.  Here  we  may 
safely  remark,  that  the  corruption  of  religious  ordinances  and  the  abuse 
of  Christian  privileges,  will  be  no  less  fatal  to  us  than  to  them.  Some 
make  the  ordinance  of  Baptism — especially  if  it  be  administered  accord- 
ing to  their  mode — equal  to  the  New  Birth  ;  others  find  no  difficulty  in 
dispensing  with  it  altogether.  In  the  former  case,  it  is  corrupted,  in 
the  latter,  contemned. 

Some  participate  in  the  Holy  Eucharist,  without  discerning  the  Lord's 
body  or  without  a  spiritual  "  remembrance  of  Christ,"  and  thereby  bring 
upon  themselves  condemnation.  Those  whose  prayers  are  mere  "  lip 
service,"  corrupt  the  duty  and  displease  the  Lord.  That  faith  which  is 
not  loving  and  obedient,  is  the  faith  of  Antinomianism,  dead  and  use- 
less. That  charity  which  originates  in  pride,  worldly  interests,  or  any 
other  carnal  motive,  is  corrupt  at  the  foundation,  and  therefore  Phari- 
saical. The  abuse  of  these  sacred  and  blood-bought  immunities,  as  is 
here  set  forth,  never  fails  to  produce  and  strengthen  spiritual  disease. 

3.  Another  cause  of  the  prevalence  of  disease  among  the  Corinth- 
ians, and  of  which  the  apostle  in  this  epistle  complains,  was  their  great 
laxity  in  church  discipline.  Scandalous  crimes  should  never  be  toler- 
ated in  the  Church  of  Christ.  The  work  of  God  cannot  prosper  under 
such  circumstances.  Hence  the  apostle  censures  and  condemns  the 
Christians  at  Corinth  because  they  retained  the  incestuous  person 
among  them,  whereas  they  ought  not  to  have  countenanced  him  as  a 
brother  nor  to  have  held  communion  with  him  in  things  either  sacred 
or  civil. 


SPIRITUAL,  PATHOLOGY.  343 

It  is  utterly  impossible  for  us  to  associate  with  the  ungodly  by 
choice,  whether  in  or  out  of  the  Church,  without  receiving  a  portion 
of  their  contagion.  Hence  the  importance  of  the  apostolic  injunction: 
"Purge  out,  therefore,  the  old  leaven,"  which  may  apply  to  ungodly 
men  in  the  Church,  as  well  as  evil  principles  in  the  heart.  Excessive 
lenity  in  the  exercise  of  church  discipline,  and  particularly  the  entire 
neglect  of  it,  must  always  result  in  unhappy  consequences  to  a  Chris- 
tian community. 

4.  Further,  it  is  proper  for  us  to  recollect  that  the  characters  exhib- 
ited in  the  text  and  throughout  this  discourse  are  such  as  have  been 
perfectly  or  partially  cured  of  an  original  disease,  but  from  certain 
causes  have  taken  a  relapse ;  and  because  the  second  attack  is  generally 
more  fatal  than  the  first,  it  seems  necessary  that  we  should  be  the  more 
particular  in  tracing  out  those  causes  which  lead  to  it. 

Here  we  may  remark  that  where  a  disease  has  merely  been  palliated, 
and  not  radically  cured,  although  many  of  the  most  dangerous  symp- 
toms may  have  disappeared,  and  a  partial  restoration  have  taken  place, 
yet  so  long  as  the  seed  of  original  malady  lurks  within  the  system,  the 
patient  is  continually  liable  to  and  in  danger  of  relapse. 

The  application  of  these  remarks  in  a  spiritual  sense  is  equally 
striking  and  forcible.  In  order  to  guard  against  relapses  and  secure  to 
ourselves  a  state  of  permanent  health  and  vigor,  it  is  essential  that  the 
seeds  of  spiritual  disease  and  death  should  be  extracted,  or  that  our 
"  hearts  be  cleansed  from  all  sin."  If  we  would  have  the  ground  cleared 
of  a  noxious  tree,  it  is  not  enough  that  we  lop  off  its  branches;  we  must 
pluck  up  its  roots.  Without  this,  the  reasons  for  the  first  operation 
will  frequently  recur;  and  we  think  we  are  divinely  warranted  in  say- 
ing that  here  lies  one  of  the  most  general  causes  of  the  spiritual  languor 
and  debility,  the  frequent  instances  of  apostacy  and  the  superficial  state 
of  religious  experience  for  which  the  different  churches  among  us  are 
so  deplorably  remarkable. 

III.  To  give  some  directions  concerning  a  cure,  both  as  it  respects  the 
remedy  itself  and  the  means  of  its  application.  1.  The  remedy  itself. 
The  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  is  both  the  balm  in  Gilead,  and  the  physician 
there.  "  He  is  the  Healer  of  all  manner  of  diseases." 

It  is  not  unfrequently  the  case  that  new  diseases  must  be  produced  in 
order  to  counteract  old  ones,  and  this  seems  to  be  the  case  here,  that  he 
might  be  a  proper  Mediator  and  the  Physician  of  our  souls,  the  blessed 
Redeemer  took  our  nature  into  union  with  his  own  ;  to  assuage  our  griefs 
he  "  hath  borne  them,"  to  alleviate  our  sorrows  he  hath  "  carried  "  or 
endured  them ;  that  he  might  be  able  to  bind  up  our  wounds,  he  waa 


344  LIFE  OF   EEV.    CHARLES   PITMAN,    D.D. 

wounded  for  us ;  that  he  might  forgive  our  sins  "  He  was  bruised  for  our 
iniquities ;  "  that  he  might  restore  us  to  the  forfeited  favor  of  heaven, 
"  the  chastisement  of  our  peace  was  upon  him,"  and  that  our  stripes 
might  be  healed  "  he  was  stricken  for  us."  Though  he  was  the  "  Ever- 
lasting Father,"  he  condescended  to  become  an  infant,  to  be  born  of  wo- 
man, that  we,  the  wretched  posterity  of  degenerate  Adam  might  be  born 
again — born  of  God.  He  who  launched  all  the  planetary  globes  through 
the  illimitable  void,  who  guides  them  with  the  most  perfect  regularity, 
and  who  ornaments  them  with  all  their  exquisite  beauties  and  glowing 
decorations,  vouchsafed  to  wrap  himself  in  the  veil  of  our  degraded  hu- 
manity, that  we  might  be  invested  with  the  richest  ornaments  and  high- 
est honors  of  glorified  spirits,  around  his  throne.  Though  the  supreme 
Sovereign  of  heaven  and  of  earth,  he  deigned  to  stoop  so  low  as  to  take 
upon  him  the  form  and  office  of  a  servant,  that  we  might  be  freed  from 
the  bondage  of  sin  and  slavery  of  Satan,  and  be  honored  as  the  heirs  of 
salvation,  with  the  ministration  of  celestial  spirits.  In  infinite  condes- 
cension he  submitted  to  be  stripped  of  his  seamless  garment,  that  our 
shame  might  not  appear;  he  became  naked  that  we  might  be  adorned 
with  robes  of  righteousness  and  garments  of  salvation.  He  who  "  tinc- 
tures the  metallic  dust,''  furnishes  the  exhaustless  mines  of  nature  with 
all  their  glittering  treasures,  who  decked  the  sky  with  all  its  silver 
drapery.  He,  when  tabernacling  among  men,  was  possessed  of  no 
riches  but  the  riches  of  active  benevolence,  had  no  ornament  but  that 
of  immaculate  purity.  Poor  as  he  was  in  his  circumstances,  and  mean 
in  all  his  accommodations,  "that  we  might  be  rich  in  faith  here,  and 
heirs  of  an  imperishable  crown  and  unfading  inheritance  hereafter." 
"  The  judge  of  all  the  earth  ''  yielded  to  the  false  accusations,  the  unjust 
judgment  and  the  cruel  decision  of  an  earthly  tribunal,  that  we  might 
be  graciously  and  honorably  acquitted,  and  gloriously  rewarded  before 
his  righteous  and  spotless  throne. 

Although  "  the  government  was  upon  his  shoulders,"  we  behold  him 
bearing  the  infamous  load  of  a  malefactor's  cross,  and  a  barbarous  sol- 
diery, followed  by  an  infuriated  mob,  leading  him  as  a  Lamb  to  the 
slaughter,  that  we  might  be  delivered  from  the  curse  of  the  law,  which 
we  have  justly  merited,  be  favored  with  peace  and  triumph  through 
death's  dark  passage,  and  ultimately  conveyed,  by  celestial  attendants, 
into  the  Paradise  of  God. 

Though  he  was  the  "  Living  God,"  who  gave  life  to  universal  being, 
he,  in  the  assumption  of  our  nature,  submitted  to  have  his  sacred  body 
bound  to  a  transverse  piece  of  wood,  with  his  two  arms  stretched  out 
upon  the  cross-beam,  while  his  hands  and  feet  were  made  fast  to  the  tree 


SPIRITUAL  PATHOLOGY.  345 

by  hammers  and  nails,  which  shattered  his  nerves  and  pierced  his  whole 
animal  system  with  the  keenest  anguish,  until  the  violence  and  slowness 
of  the  torture,  forced  from  its  fountain,  drop  by  drop,  the  precious  stream 
of  life,  that  in  his  death  he  might  conquer  death,  heal  the  inveterate 
plague  of  sin  and  restore  the  humble  believer  to  immortality  and  eter- 
nal life. 

" Survey  this  wondrous  cure ; 

And  at  each  step  let  higher  wonders  rise ! 
Pardon  for  infinite  offence !  and  pardon 
Through  means  that  speak  its  value  infinite  I 
A  pardon  bought  with  blood,  with  blood  divine ! 

With  blood  divine  of  him  we  made  our  foe." 
********# 

Draw  near  ye  diseased  and  dying  sons  and  daughters  of  Adam,  behold 
this  wonderful  Physician,  and  contemplate  his  sovereign  remedy.  He 
suffers  the  medicine  which  is  to  heal  your  mortal  wounds  to  be  drawn 
in  trembling  drops  from  his  palpitating  heart,  until  its  sluices  are  ex- 
hausted, and  with  his  expiring  breath  he  cries,  "  It  is  finished,"  while 
at  the  affecting  tragedy  the  earth  is  in  convulsions,  the  dead  in  agitation, 
the  planets  wrapt  in  mourning,  hell  in  consternation,  and  all  Heaven  in 
silence.  Here  all  is  marvelous  in  the  extreme,  for  this  Tree  of  Life  had 
but  just  bled  to  death,  when  a  divine  assurance  was  given  that  by  some 
mysterious  power  of  its  own,  it  had  revived  again  and  was  transplanted 
in  the  New  Jerusalem  clothed  with  beauty  and  verdure,  abundant  and 
seasonable  in  its  productions,  and  that  "  its  very  leaves  are  for  the  heal- 
ing of  the  nations." 

Here,  O  diseased  soul,  is  thy  sure  and  only  remedy.  This  "  Tree  " 
sheds  forth  a  sacred  balm  which,  in  its  marvelous  efficacy,  can  heal  all 
thy  wounds ;  it  issues  forth  a  tincture  which,  though  of  a  crimson  hue, 
can  cleanse  thee  from  all  thy  defilement,  and  wash  thee  white  as  snow  ; 
it  produces  fruit  which  is  suited  to  the  weakness  of  the  digestive  organs, 
and  is  pleasant,  nutritious  and  strengthening  ;  it  affords  a  shade  to  the 
weary  pilgrim,  where  no  chilling  damps  expose  him  to  the  ravages  of 
disease  and  death.  Thus  we  discover  that  Christ  is  the  Physician  of  sin- 
sick  souls,  and  his  blood  their  only  remedy. 

"  To  man  the  bleeding  cross  hath  promised  all ! 

To  man  the  bleeding  cross  hath  sworn  eternal  grace  : 

Who  gave  his  Son,  what  gifts  shall  he  deny  ?  " 

In  the  perfect  cure  of  spiritual  disease,  two  things  are  requisite.    As 


346  LIFE   OF   REV.   CHARLES   PITMAN,   D.D. 

guilty  rebels  we  must  be  pardoned  and  restored  to  Divine  favor;  aa  de- 
praved and  loathsome  sinners  we  must  be  purified  and  restored  to  the 
Divine  image.  And  from  what  has  been  said  with  respect  to  the 
remedy,  it  is  clear  that  in  Jesus  Christ  ample  provision  is  made  for  the 
accomplishment  of  both.  But  if  there  is  such  a  sovereign  remedy,  such 
a  gracious,  wise  and  powerful  Physician,  and  all  within  our  reach,  we 
may  take  up  the  prophet's  complaint  and  say,  "  Why  is  not  the  hurt  of 
the  daughter  of  my  people  healed  ?  "  This  leads  us  to  notice, 

2.  The  means  which  are  to  be  used  in  order  to  an  effectual  application 
of  the  remedy,  the  first  of  which  is  to  avoid  the  causes  of  the  disease. 
"  Let  the  wicked  forsake  his  way  and  the  unrighteous  man  his  thoughts." 

Cease  to  be  contentious  ;  this  last  particle  of  malice  or  strife,  har- 
bored and  cherished  in  the  heart,  must,  of  necessity,  prevent  any  inter- 
course with  Heaven  in  prayer.  It  would  be  solemn  mockery  to  entreat 
the  "  God  of  Peace  "  to  take  up  his  abode  in  a  heart  filled  with  wrath. 
"Go,  then,  and  be  reconciled  to  thy  brother,"  yea,  to  thy  bitterest 
enemy  ;  at  least,  make  the  attempt,  or  never  expect  to  obtain  spiritual 
health  to  the  soul.  The  revengeful  man  cannot  use  the  Lord's  prayer 
by  way  of  petition  without  praying  for  his  own  damnation.  Forgive 
them,  or  never  expect  to  be  forgiven  ;  and  forgive  in  the  same  manner, 
and  to  the  same  extent,  that  thou  would'st  pray  for  forgiveness.  Prize 
the  ministry  of  the  word  because  of  its  own  intrinsic  value,  and  not  on 
account  of  mere  human  embellishments.  Hear  and  receive  it  as  the 
gift  of  the  Gospel  of  God,  and  treasure  it  up  in  an  "  honest  heart,"  that 
it  may  bring  forth  fruit  unto  everlasting  life. 

Use  all  the  ordinances  of  God's  house,  and  all  the  appointed  means  of 
grace,  regularly,  reverently,  and  spiritually.  Let  the  Church  cease  to 
tolerate  iniquity  by  refusing  to  exercise  discipline,  but  let  its  officers 
seek  the  detection  of  disorderly  members,  and  let  every  Achan  found 
among  God's  true  Israel  receive  his  merited  punishment,  lest  by  their 
spirit  and  example  a  general  infection  take  place  among  the  flock.  In 
the  observance  of  all  this,  the  bane  of  the  Corinthian  Church  will  be 
avoided. 

But,  perhaps  you  have  found  it  dangerous  and  injurious  to  rest  satis- 
fied with  superficial  attainments,  or  to  content  yourselves  with  a  partial 
cure.  "  Go  on,  then,  to  perfection."  "  Leave  the  things  which  are  be- 
hind,'1 and  reach  after  those  "  things  which  are  before."  And  let  no 
state  be  considered  as  a  secure  one  but  that  in  which  thou  canst  "  re- 
joice ever  more,  pray  without  ceasing,  and  in  everything  give  thanks ! " 
Beware  of  an  unwholesome  atmosphere.  Shun  the  fashionable  circle, 
the  fatal  haunts  of  the  epicure  and  the  sensualist.  Take  care  of  those 


SPIRITUAL  PATHOLOGY.  347 

who  talk  much  about  innocent  diversions,  to  pass  away  the  time,  etc. — 
their  way  leads  to  death  and  hell.  In  short,  "  come  out  from  among 
the  wicked,  be  separate  from  them ;  touch  not,  taste  not,  handle  not,  the 
unclean  thing." 

But,  again ;  neither  the  physician  nor  his  remedies  will  be  highly 
prized  or  earnestly  sought  until  the  patient  has  a  deep  consciousness  of 
the  dreadful  nature  and  alarming  tendencies  of  his  disease.  In  a  spirit- 
ual sense,  this  is  of  such  vital  importance  that  there  is  no  salvation 
without  it.  Our  blessed  Lord  declares  that  "  He  was  sent  to  heal  the 
broken-hearted,"  and  that  those  only  who  were  sensible  of  their  sick- 
ness would  come  to  Him  for  a  cure. 

Searching  and  unpalatable  medicines  must  always  precede  those 
which  are  more  relishing  and  agreeable.  The  wound  must  be  probed 
before  it  can  be  healed.  The  bitter  cup  of  wormwood  and  of  gall  must 
be  drank  before  there  will  be  an  ardent  thirst  for  the  waters  of  life. 
The  sinner  must  feel  the  inveterate  disease  deeply  rooted  in  his  heart, 
and  be  filled  with  the  keenest  anguish  and  bitterest  remorse  in  conse- 
quence of  it.  He  must  be  ready  to  acknowledge  that  there  is  no  health 
or  soundness  in  him.  He  must  be  so  pricked  to  the  heart  by  a  con- 
sciousness of  his  guilt  and  impurity  as  to  be  extremely  weary  and  heavy 
laden  with  the  burden  of  his  crimes. 

In  such  a  condition  he  will  be  restless  and  dissatisfied.  In  the  midst 
of  worldly  prosperity  and  encircled  with  dearest  friends  and  relatives, 
his  mind  will  be  gloomy  and  his  heart  comfortless.  Every  object  in  na- 
ture will  have  ceased  to  charm.  He  wants  spiritual  health,  and  nothing 
short  of  that  can  satisfy  him,  or  give  him  relief  from  the  agonies  of  a 
wounded  spirit.  He  sees,  too,  that  there  is  no  time  to  be  lost,  that  he  is 
already  half  dead,  and  that  unless  his  disease  is  speedily  arrested  and 
skillfully  resisted,  he  must,  inevitably,  fall  a  victim  to  its  merciless  rav- 
ages. 

Perhaps  he  may,  formerly,  have  had  recourse  to  various  expedients  to' 
palliate  his  alarming  symptoms,  but  his  "hurt"  having  been  frequently 
"  healed  slightly,"  has  now  burst  out  with  increasing  violence,  and  with- 
out prompt  and  effectual  resistance,  threatens  him  with  immediate  death. 
He  now  disclaims  his  own  ability  and  strength,  and  despairs  of  healing 
himself.  Having  been  driven  from  refuge  to  refuge,  and  from  one  ground 
of  hope  to  another,  he  is  at  last  forced  to  abandon  them  all. 

And  now  we  behold  him  not  only  a  guilty,  but  an  almost  hopeless  sin- 
ner. On  the  very  borders  of  despair,  in  the  most  violent  paroxysm  of 
mental  agony,  he  is  heard  to  groan  out  his  almost  spiritless  inquiry, 
"Is  there  no  balm  in  Gilead?  is  there  no  Physician  there?"  or  "  is  His 


348  LIFE   OF   REV.   CHARLES   PITMAN,   D.D. 

mercy  clean  gone  forever  ?  "  O,  how  welcome  to  such  a  soul  is  the 
news  of  an  infallible  remedy  for  his  mortal  distemper,  and  of  a  glorious 
Physician  who  never  fails  to  apply  it  with  such  skill  as  to  render  it 
effectual  1  These  repentant  tears,  agonizing  throes  and  heart-rending 
anxieties  of  the  sin-sick  soul  are  the  effects  of  a  spiritual  operation  by 
which  His  compassionate  Healer  prepares  him  for  a  radical  cure. 
These  Divinely-wrought  preparations  in  different  degrees  always  char- 
acterize those  who  obtain  the  interposing  aid  of  the  gracious  Restorer. 
And  these  being  deeply  rooted  and  realized,  the  principal  hindrances  to 
the  exercise  of  the  only  principle  by  which  spiritual  health  can  be  ob- 
tained and  secured  are  removed  out  of  the  way. 

But  what  is  that  mighty  principle  upon  which  is  suspended  such 
glorious  results  ?  The  answer  to  this  question  leads  us  to  contemplate 
the  last  and  only  refuge  of  the  wounded  penitent,  "  Salvation  by  faith." 
This  great  and  glorious  doctrine  is  both  maintained  and  exemplified  in 
almost  every  part  of  the  sacred  oracles.  It  is  a  cardinal  point  in  the 
Christian  system.  It  was  a  leading  doctrine  in  the  creed  of  the  Re- 
formers. It  was  the  sweetest  theme  of  the  Wesleys  and  their  coadju- 
tors. May  their  followers  never  lose  sight  of  it. 

But  what  is  faith  ?  This  is  an  important  question,  and  demands  an 
answer  from  the  lips  of  inspiration.  Such  an  answer  we  are  graciously 
favored  with.  The  great  Apostle  Paul,  in  describing  Abraham's  faith, 
simply  observes,  "  he  believed  God  "  (Romans  4  :  3.)  From  which  ex- 
position we  learn  that  it  is  to  place  an  implicit  reliance  upon  all  the 
truths  which  God  has  spoken,  and  especially  to  believe  the  record  which 
He  has  given  of  His  Son.  It  is  a  cordial  reception  of  the  whole  Evan- 
gelical system.  I  am  aware  of  the  fact  that  this  simple  definition 
though,  of  Divine  authority,  has  nothing  in  it  congenial  with  the  high 
notions  of  Metaphysical  speculators,  nor  with  the  soul-freezing  systems 
of  such  as  directly  or  indirectly  discard  the  doctrine  of  the  Atonement. 
But  this  discourse  is  intended,  not  for  those  who  wish  to  feed  upon 
fanciful  speculations,  but  for  such  as  are  willing  to  receive  plain  truth 
in  the  love  of  it,  and  such  we  think  are  those  who  lie  at  our  spiritual 
Bethesda.  They  acknowledge  their  utter  inability  to  help  themselves, 
and  also  that  they  have  no  one  to  help  them. 

In  this  distressing  dilemma,  let  but  the  compassionate  Jesus  address 
them  as  he  did  the  impotent  man  spoken  of  in  the  gospel,  "  Wilt  thou 
be  made  whole?"  and  a  gleam  of  hope  is  instantly  inspired.  Perhaps 
my  case  is  not  entirely  desperate.  Perhaps  from  the  tenderness  and 
compassion  which  is  so  conspicuous  in  the  address  of  the  gracious  phy- 
sician, he  designs  to  interpose  in  my  behalf.  Thus  encouraged,  he  cries 


SPIRITUAL  PATHOLOGY.  349 

out,  "  Lord,  what  wilt  thou  have  me  to  do  ?  "  and  receives  for  answer, 
"  Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  thou  shalt  be  saved  I "  Now  it 
is  that  simple  saving  faith  which  honors  the  Redeemer  by  exclaiming, 
" Lord,  if  thou  wilt  thou  canst  make  me  clean ! "  "I  will,  be  thou 
clean,"  seals  the  dear-bought  blessing,  and  introduces  the  wounded  and 
dying  sinner  into  a  state  of  spiritual  life,  health  and  happiness. 

In  the  first  application  of  this  salutary  balm,  the  cure  may  not  be 
radical,  yet  the  foundation  is  laid  for  a  perfect  and  entire  restoration, 
and  unless  the  believer  should  mistake  his  state  and  settle  down  upon 
the  mere  threshold  of  Christian  experience,  his  ardent  faith  will  speedily 
embrace  the  Divine  Healer,  not  only  as  his  "  righteousness,"  but  as  his 
" sanctification  "  and  full  "redemption."  Then,  in  the  rigorous  and  un- 
wearied exercise  of  all  the  Christian  graces  will  he  "  hold  on  his  way, 
and  grow  stronger  and  stronger."  Then  the  whole  tenor  of  his  life  will 
correspond  to  his  name  and  profession,  and  while  "  the  outward  man 
perishes,  the  inward  man  is  renewed  day  by  day."  Then,  and  not  till 
then,  will  he  experience  all  the  pure  felicities  of  that  faith  which  ani- 
mated the  holy  apostle,  when  he  exclaimed,  "  God  forbid  that  I  should 
glory,  save  in  the  cross  of  Christ,  by  which  the  world  is  crucified  unto 
me,  and  I  unto  the  world."  And  now,  his  affections  being  cut  loose  from 
earth  by  the  powerful  attractions  of  the  cross,  the  life  he  lives  is  by  the 
faith  of  the  Son  of  God,  through  whose  merit  and  by  whose  power  he  is 
preserved  from  falling,  and  entitled  to  "an  entrance,  ministered  unto 
him  abundantly,  into  the  everlasting  kingdom  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour, 
Jesus  Christ."  1  Peter  1 :  11. 

We  have  now,  agreeably  to  promise,  exhibited  some  of  the  most 
striking  symptoms  of  a  diseased  soul,  brought  to  view  a  few  of  the  causes 
which  invariably  produce  it,  and  given  some  directions  relative  to  a  cure, 
both  as  it  respects  the  remedy  itself  and  the  means  of  its  application. 
It  remains  for  us  to  improve  and  apply  the  subject  by  a  solemn  address. 
And, 

1st.  To  those  who  are  insensible  to  their  spiritual  maladies;  such  as 
imagine  themselves  whole,  while  they  exhibit  the  most  alarming  symp- 
toms of  a  dangerous  and  fatal  distemper. 

But,  you  ask,  is  it  possible  that  I  can  be  diseased  and  be  insensible 
of  it?  "Can  I  be  full  of  wounds,  and  bruises,  and  putrifying  sores," 
and  at  the  same  time  ignorant  of  my  state  and  danger?  Moat  assuredly 
this  may  be  the  case.  It  is  not  impossible  in  a  physical  sense.  There 
are  many  instances  in  which  persons  are  dangerously  sick,  who  imagine, 
or  strive  to  imagine  themselves  well ;  and  to  whom  the  candor  of  a  friend 
would  be  construed  into  cruelty.  Thus,  poor,  infatuated  sinners,  sunk 


350  LIFE  OF  REV.  CHARLES  PITMAN,   D.D. 

into  a  state  of  spiritual  lethargy,  or  under  the  influence  of  a  fatal  deli- 
rium, although  threatened  with  speedy  dissolution,  fancy  themselves  in 
health,  or  but  slightly  indisposed,  and  flatter  themselves  with  the  pros- 
pect of  life  and  happiness  until  death  and  hell  engulf  them  forever. 

These  poor  deluded  souls  are  both  infected  and  infectious.  They  by 
turns  flatter  each  other,  and  thus  contribute  toward  a  blind  and  fatal  se- 
curity. Those  are  the  characters  by  whom  faithful  ministers  and  zeal- 
ous Christians  are  considered  in  no  other  light  than  as  "the  troublers  of 
Israel."  But  "  whether  they  will  hear,  or  whether  they  will  forbear,"  we 
must  honestly  and  conscientiously  endeavor  to  give  sinners,  as  well  as 
saints,  their  proper  portion,  in  due  season.  Settle  it  well  in  thy  heart, 
O  secure  sinner,  that  the  very  worst  symptom  which  discovers  itself 
in  thy  case  is  thy  insensibility  or  criminal  indifference.  Search,  then, 
the  records  of  salvation,  attentively ;  read  and  devoutly  meditate  upon 
those  inspired  descriptions  of  thy  lapsed  and  ruined  condition.  Pray 
for  Divine  illumination  ;  cherish  every  spiritual  emotion  ;  be  willing  to 
feel  thy  disease  in  order  to  obtain  a  cure ;  to  know  thy  danger  that  thou 
mayest  avoid  it.  And  may  God  help  thee  to  "  consider  thy  ways,"  and 
give  thee  to  understand  the  things  which  "  belong  to  thy  peace,"  before 
they  are  forever  hid  from  thine  eyes.  But, 

2d.  Let  us  turn  our  attention  to  a  different  and  more  hopeful  charac- 
acter ;  to  him  who  is  deeply  conscious  of  "  the  plague  of  his  own  heart," 
is  trembling  on  the  very  verge  of  despair,  and,  as  he  supposes,  on  the 
point  to  die  eternally. 

There  is  an  object  of  our  most  intense  commiseration.  Witness  that 
inexpressible  anguish  of  soul  which  extorts  from  his  throbbing  heart 
the  bitter  lamentation,  "  My  days  are  consumed  like  smoke,  and  my 
bones  are  burned  as  an  hearih.  My  heart  is  smitten,  and  withered  like 
grass ;  so  that  I  forget  to  eat  my  bread.  By  reason  of  the  voice  of  my 
groaning,  my  bones  cleave  to  my  skin.  I  am  like  a  pelican  of  the  wil- 
.derness,  I  am  like  an  owl  of  the  desert,  I  watch  and  am  as  a  sparrow 
alone  upon  the  house-top."  Psalm  102  :  3,  4,  5,  6,  7. 

Hereby  the  finest  sensibilities  of  the  pious  heart,  and  the  tenderest 
sympathies  of  Christian  benevolence  will  all  be  called  into  practical 
operation,  on  beholding  so  moving  a  spectacle.  It  is  now  that  the  de- 
vout Christian  "  will  weep  with  those  that  weep."  Now  the  "  Boanerges  " 
will  become  a  "  son  of  consolation."  He  will  recollect  that  a  part  of 
his  commission  runs  thus :  "  Comfort  ye,  comfort  ye  my  people,  saith 
your  God,"  Isa.  40:  1.  Yes,  ye  bruised  and  mangled  penitents  !  we  re- 
joice to  proclaim  unto  you,  Jesus,  "the  Healer  of  all  manner  of  dis- 
eases," and  "  the  Redeemer  of  your  lives  from  destruction." 


SPIRITUAL   PATHOLOGY.  351 

How  sweet  the  name  of  Jesus  sounds 

In  a  believer's  ears. 
It  soothes  his  sorrows,  heals  his  wounds, 

And  drives  away  his  fears. 

O,  ye  afflicted,  tossed  and  uncomforted  !  reflect  upon  the  heart-cheer- 
ing import  of  that  sacred  name.  He  shall  save  his  people  from  their 
sins.  This  was  the  object  of  his  mission,  the  end  of  his  atonement,  and 
it  is  his  gracious  offer  in  the  gospel  message.  He  opened  his  message 
with  a  promise  to  the  broken-hearted;  he  prosecuted  it  in  doing  good 
"  to  the  bodies  and  souls  of  men ; "  and  he  closed  it  by  pouring  out  his 
heart's  blood  as  the  only  balm  to  the  wounded  conscience.  This  is  the 
good  news  proclaimed  by  the  gospel,  and  this  heavenly  intelligence  is  as 
true  as  it  is  pleasing.  Despair  then  no  longer  of  obtaining  relief,  nor 
doubt  the  possibility  of  a  final  cure.  Christ  is  thy  physician,  his  blood 
thy  remedy,  and  his  promises  thy  security.  Dwell  no  longer  upon  thy 
distress,  weakness,  or  unworthiness,  but  look  to  Jesus,  who  is  strong  to 
deliver  and  mighty  to  save.  Honor  the  Divine  Kestorer  by  trusting  in 
his  skill,  believing  in  his  mercy,  confiding  in  his  power,  and  relying 
upon  his  promises.  In  making  this  venture  upon  the  Divine  benignity 
thy  envenomed  stings  will  be  healed  and  health  and  happiness  restored 
to  thy  soul. 

3d.  We  will  conclude  this  discourse  by  addressing  those  who  have 
been  partially  or  radically  healed.  How  great  are  your  obligations  to 
the  Friend  of  sinners,  who  has  become  the  physician  of  your  souls. 
Such  an  unmerited  favor  certainly  demands  your  earnest  gratitude, 
your  unceasing  praise,  and  your  cheerful  obedience.  Act  not  then  like 
the  ungrateful  lepers,  but  like  him  who  returned  to  give  glory  to  his  de- 
liverer. 

Remember,  the  blessed  Jesus  does  not  say  to  you,  as  he  did  to  one  of 
old,  "see  thou  tell  no  man;"  but  he  commands  you  to  let  your  light 
shine  before  men,  in  order  to  benefit  them ;  yea,  he  absolutely  forbids 
its  concealment.  And  it  is  expressly  said  in  the  sacred  oracles  that 
whoso  offereth  praise,  glorifieth  God.  Psalm  50 :  23. 

Indeed,  so  essential  are  these  devout  adorations,  that  to  withhold  them 
ia  to  deprive  yourselves  of  the  tender  regards  of  your  gracious  Redeemer. 
But,  if  from  a  heart  bursting  with  grateful  emotions,  your  cry  is,  "  What 
shall  I  render  unto  the  Lord  for  all  his  benefits  towards  me  ?  "  then  may 
you  "take  the  cup  of  salvation,"  and,  with  implicit  confidence,  "  call 
upon  the  name  of  the  Lord."  Psalm  116:  12,  13. 

It  is  also  of  the  highest  importance,  as  it  regards  your  present  and 


352  LIFE   OF   REV.   CHARLES   PITMAN,   D.D. 

eternal  interests,  that  you  guard  against  relapses.  "  Be  not  high-minded, 
but  fear."  You  are  never  so  safe  as  when  you  are  most  awake  to  danger. 
Perhaps  you  have  already  felt  the  fatal  effects  of  spiritual  declension. 
It  may  be  you  are  not  ignorant  of  the  inexpressible  anguish,  bitter  pangs, 
and  extreme  torture  of  a  penitent  backslider.  If  this  be  the  case,  learn 
wisdom  by  past  experience.  Remember  the  fatal  rocks  upon  which  you 
split,  and  let  them  be  as  beacons  to  you  during  the  remainder  of  your 
voyage.  If,  as  a  justified  believer,  thou  hast  heard  the  consolatory 
whisper,  "  thy  sins  which  are  many  are  all  forgiven  thee,"  continue  thy 
importunate  suit  until  the  gracious  Physician  shall  add,  "  thy  faith  hath 
made  thee  whole."  But  if  thou  hast  already  experienced  an  entire 
conformity  to  the  image  and  will  of  God,  and  art  rejoicing  in  his  perfect 
love,  then  thou  shouldst  earnestly  beg,  with  the  apostle,  that  "  the  God 
of  all  grace  would  settle,  strengthen  and  establish  thee."  I  Peter  5 :  10. 

It  is  in  this  way  only  that  thy  spiritual  health  can  be  secured.  Ex- 
amine frequently  and  closely  thy  spiritual  symptoms,  and  let  thy  relish 
for  spiritual  food,  and  thy  practical  conformity  to  the  law  of  faith,  be 
considered  as  the  only  genuine  evidences  of  a  healthy  and  vigorous  state 
of  the  soul. 

Thus,  having  the  Holy  Spirit  to  bear  witness  with  thy  spirit,  that  thou 
art  a  child  of  God,  and  a  joint  heir  with  Jesus  Christ,  thou  shalt  be 
happy  and  useful  in  life,  and  triumphant  in  death. 

And  when  the  destinies  of  Adam's  family  shall  be  eternally  fixed, 
thou  shalt  be  exalted  to  those  healthful  climes  and  united  to  that  holy 
society,  where  God  shall  wipe  away  all  tears  from  thine  eyes,  and  there 
shall  be  no  more  death,  neither  sorrow,  nor  crying ;  neither  shall  there 
be  any  more  pain  ;  for  the  former  things  have  passed  away.  Rev.  21 .  4. 

There,  without  interruption,  without  weariness ;  yea,  with  incessant 
transports  of  holy  joy,  thou  shalt  join  in  singing  the  heavenly  anthem  ; 
"  Unto  him  that  loved  us,  and  washed  us  from  our  sins  in  his  own  blood, 
and  hath  made  us  kings  and  priests  unto  God,  and  his  Father,  to  him 
be  glory  and  dominion  forever,  and  ever.  Amen." 


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